Meanings
plural marsupials
- A mammal of the infraclass Marsupialia, including those where the female has a pouch in which it rears the young through early infancy, such as kangaroos, koalas, wombats and opossums, as well as the pouchless shrew opossums.
Synonyms: marsupian, marsupiate
comparative more marsupial · superlative most marsupial
- Of or pertaining to a marsupial.
Showing that this animal is marsupial, consists of the following characters.
1892, The American naturalist, page 1252 more examples
It seemed to me, meandering around Earls Court, that motors should be more marsupial.
1952, The Motor, page 520But there's this pouch just below my belly button, very marsupial, where the kangaroo lives.
2002, Fiction Fix: First Injection, page 58
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA mammal of the infraclass Marsupialia, including those where the female has a pouch in which it rears the young through early infancy, such as kangaroos, koalas, wombats and opossums, as well as the pouchless shrew opossums.
More synonyms by meaning
nounmammals of which the females have a pouch (the marsupium) containing the teats where the young are fed and carried
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekμαρσύπιον
- Latinmarsūpial
- Englishmarsupial
Borrowed from Latin marsūpial, from marsūpiālis (“of a purse”) and marsūpium (“purse, pouch”), from Ancient Greek μαρσύπιον (marsúpion) or μαρσύππιον (marsúppion), variants of μαρσίππιον (marsíppion), diminutive of μάρσιππος (mársippos, “bag, pouch”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans buideldier, buidel
- buideldiermammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- buidelof or pertaining to a marsupial
Arabic جِرَابِيّ, جِرَاب
- جِرَابِيّ (jirābiyy)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- جِرَاب (jirāb)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Bulgarian двуутробен
- двуутробен (dvuutroben)of or pertaining to a marsupial
Catalan marsupial, marsupial
- marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- marsupialof or pertaining to a marsupial
Chinese Mandarin 有袋動物 /有袋动物, 有袋類 /有袋类
- 有袋動物 /有袋动物 (yǒudài dòngwù)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- 有袋類 /有袋类 (yǒudàilèi)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Czech vačnatec
- vačnatecmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Danish pungdyr
- pungdyrmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Dutch buideldier
- buideldiermammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Esperanto marsupiulo
- marsupiulomammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Finnish pussieläin, pussieläin-
- pussieläinmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- pussieläin-of or pertaining to a marsupial
French marsupial
- marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
German Beuteltier
- Beuteltiermammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Hebrew חיית כיס
- חיית כיסmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Hungarian erszényes
- erszényesmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Icelandic pokadýr, pokadýr
- pokadýrmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- pokadýrof or pertaining to a marsupial
Italian marsupiale, marsupiale
- marsupialemammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- marsupialeof or pertaining to a marsupial
Japanese 有袋類, 有袋動物
- 有袋類 (yūtairui)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- 有袋動物 (yūtai-dōbutsu)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Korean 육아 낭이, 유대류
- 육아 낭이 (yuga nang'i)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- 유대류 (yudaeryu)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Latin marsupial, marsupialis
- marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- marsupialisof or pertaining to a marsupial
Lithuanian sterblinis
- sterblinismammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Malay marsupial, binatang marsupial
- marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- binatang marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- haiwan marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- marsupialof or pertaining to a marsupial
Norwegian Bokmål pungdyr
- pungdyrmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Polish torbacz, woreczkowaty
- torbaczmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- woreczkowatyof or pertaining to a marsupial
Portuguese marsupial, marsupial
- marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- marsupialof or pertaining to a marsupial
Romanian marsupial, marsupial
- marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- marsupialof or pertaining to a marsupial
Russian су́мчатый, су́мчатый
- су́мчатый (súmčatyj)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- су́мчатый (súmčatyj)of or pertaining to a marsupial
Spanish marsupial, didelfo
- marsupialmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- didelfomammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- marsupialof or pertaining to a marsupial
Swedish pungdjur
- pungdjurmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Turkish keseli hayvan
- keseli hayvanmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Ukrainian су́мчастий, су́мчастий
- су́мчастий (súmčastyj)mammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- су́мчастий (súmčastyj)of or pertaining to a marsupial
Vietnamese thú có túi
- thú có túimammal of which the female typically has a pouch
Welsh bolgodog, bolgodog
- bolgodogmammal of which the female typically has a pouch
- bolgodogof or pertaining to a marsupial
Cite this entry
marsupial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marsupial
“marsupial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marsupial. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “marsupial,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marsupial.
Source: marsupial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.