Meanings
plural nutrias
- CanadaUScountableuncountableThe coypu, Myocastor coypus.
1986, Identifying and Managing Aquatic Rodents in Texas, Texas Agricultural Extension Service, page 13, Nutria are native to South America and were successfully established in North America in the early 1930s as a new furbearing species.
1 more example
Furthermore, nutria engage in the outright destruction of muskrat lodges to create nesting habitat for themselves.
2000, National Wetlands Newsletter, Volumes 22-23, Environmental Law Institute, page 8 - countableuncountableThe fur of the coypu.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounaquatic South American rodent resembling a small beaver; bred for its fur
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinlutra
- Spanishnutria“otter”
- Englishnutria
From Spanish nutria (“otter”), from Latin lutra.
More words from Spanish, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
nutria. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nutria
“nutria.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nutria. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nutria,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nutria.
Source: nutria on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.