Meanings
plural pangolins
- Any of several long-tailed, scale-covered mammals of the family Manidae within the order Pholidota of tropical Africa and Asia.
1 more example
Like many Sri Lankans, pangolins have big tongues, thick hides and small brains. They pick on ants, rats and anything smaller than them. They hide in terror when faced with bullies and get up to mischief when the lights are out. They are hundreds of thousands of years old and are plodding towards extinction.
2022, Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Sort Of Books, page 302Synonyms: manid, scaly anteater, trenggiling
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of several long-tailed, scale-covered mammals of the family Manidae within the order Pholidota of tropical Africa and Asia.
More synonyms by meaning
nountoothless mammal of southern Africa and Asia having a body covered with horny scales and a long snout for feeding on ants and termites
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Austronesian*paŋ-
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*paŋ-
- Proto-Malayic*pAŋ-
- Malaypeng-
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*guliŋ
- Malayguling
- Malaypengguling
- Englishpangolin
Borrowed from Malay pengguling, from peng- (“denominative prefix”) + guling (“to roll”).
More words from Malay
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans ietermagog, ietermagô
- ietermagogmammal
- ietermagômammal
Ancient Greek φαττάγης
- φαττάγης (phattágēs)mammal
Basque folidoto
- folidotomammal
Bengali বনরুই
- বনরুই (bonorui)mammal
Bulgarian люспеник, панголи́н
- люспеник (ljuspenik)mammal
- панголи́н (pangolín)mammal
Catalan pangolí
- pangolímammal
Chinese Cantonese 穿山甲
- 穿山甲 (cyun¹ saan¹ gaap³)mammal
Chinese Mandarin 穿山甲, 鯪鯉 /鲮鲤
- 穿山甲 (chuānshānjiǎ)mammal
- 鯪鯉 /鲮鲤 (línglǐ)mammal
- 龍鯉 /龙鲤 (lónglǐ)mammal
Czech luskoun
- luskounmammal
Danish skældyr
- skældyrmammal
Dutch schubdier
- schubdiermammal
Esperanto maniso
- manisomammal
Estonian soomusloom
- soomusloommammal
Finnish muurahaiskäpy
- muurahaiskäpymammal
French pangolin, pangoline
- pangolinmammal
- pangolinemammal
German Schuppentier, Tannenzapfentier
- Schuppentiermammal
- Tannenzapfentiermammal
Greek παγκολίνος
- παγκολίνος (pagkolínos)mammal
Hindi सल्लू साँप
- सल्लू साँप (sallū sā̃p)mammal
Hungarian tobzoska
- tobzoskamammal
Indonesian trenggiling
- trenggilingmammal
Irish pangailin
- pangailinmammal
Italian pangolino
- pangolinomammal
Japanese センザンコウ, 穿山甲
- センザンコウ (senzankō)mammal
- 穿山甲 (senzankō)mammal
Korean 천산갑
- 천산갑 (cheonsan'gap)mammal
Lithuanian skujuotis
- skujuotismammal
Malay tenggiling, pengguling
- tenggilingmammal
- penggulingmammal
Norwegian Bokmål skjelldyr, pangolin
- skjelldyrmammal
- pangolinmammal
Polish łuskowiec
- łuskowiecmammal
Portuguese pangolim
- pangolimmammal
Punjabi ਪੈਂਗੋਲਿਨ
- ਪੈਂਗੋਲਿਨ (paiṅgolin)mammal
Russian панголи́н, я́щер
- панголи́н (pangolín)mammal
- я́щер (jáščer)mammal
Slovak pangolín, šupinavec
- pangolínmammal
- šupinavecmammal
- šupinovecmammal
Spanish pangolín
- pangolínmammal
Swahili kakakuona
- kakakuonamammal
Swedish myrkott
- myrkottmammal
Tagalog panggolin
- panggolinmammal
Tamil அழுங்கு, எறும்புத்தின்னி
- அழுங்கு (aḻuṅku)mammal
- எறும்புத்தின்னி (eṟumputtiṉṉi)mammal
Thai นิ่ม, ลิ่น
- นิ่ม (nîm)mammal
- ลิ่น (lîn)mammal
Turkish pangolin
- pangolinmammal
Ukrainian панголі́н
- панголі́н (panholín)mammal
Vietnamese tê tê, trút
- tê têmammal
- trútmammal
Welsh pangolin
- pangolinmammal
Zulu imfinyezi
- imfinyezimammal
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
pangolin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pangolin
“pangolin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pangolin. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pangolin,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pangolin.
Source: pangolin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.