Meanings
plural spermophiles
- A terrestrial burrowing rodent; ground squirrel.
Your cousin, Seek Seek the Spermophile, sometimes called Gopher Squirrel, who lives on the open plains of the West where there are no rocks or stones. He likes best the flat, open country. He is called Spermophile because that means seed-eater, and he lives largely on seeds, especially on grain.
1920, Thornton W. Burgess, “Striped Chipmunk and his Cousins”, in The Burgess Animal Book for ChildrenSynonyms: suslik, souslik, ground squirrel, gopher
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA terrestrial burrowing rodent; ground squirrel.
More synonyms by meaning
nounany of various terrestrial burrowing rodents of Old and New Worlds; often destroy crops
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From Spermophilus from σπέρμα (spérma, “seed”) + φιλέω (philéō, “love”), hence, "seed-lover". This genus formerly included most of the terrestrial squirrels, but all of the North American species have been split off into separate genera.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
spermophile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermophile
“spermophile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermophile. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spermophile,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spermophile.
Source: spermophile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.