marsupial

Etymology

From Latin marsupium, marsuppium (“pouch, purse”), from Ancient Greek μαρσύπιον (marsúpion) or μαρσύππιον (marsúppion), variants of μαρσίππιον (marsíppion), diminutive of μάρσιππος (mársippos, “bag, pouch”); with English -al.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɑːˈsuː.pi.əl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /mɑɹˈsu.pi.əl/
• Hyphenation: mar‧su‧pial

Noun

marsupial (plural marsupials)

1. Any member of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia, including those where the female has a pouch in which it rears its young through early infancy, such as kangaroos, koalas, wombats and opossums, as well as the pouchless shrew opossums.

Adjective

marsupial (comparative more marsupial, superlative most marsupial)

1. Of or pertaining to a marsupial.
   • 1892, The American naturalist, page 125:

     Showing that this animal is marsupial, consists of the following characters.

   • 1952, The Motor, page 520:

     It seemed to me, meandering around Earls Court, that motors should be more marsupial.

   • 2002, Fiction Fix: First Injection, page 58:

     But there's this pouch just below my belly button, very marsupial, where the kangaroo lives.

2. (anatomy) Of or relating to a marsupium.

   the marsupial bones

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [mər.su.piˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [maɾ.su.piˈal]

Noun

marsupial m (plural marsupials)

1. marsupial

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʁ.sy.pjal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

marsupial m (plural marsupiaux)

1. marsupial

Further reading

• “marsupial”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: mar‧su‧pi‧al

Noun

marsupial m (plural marsupiais)

1. marsupial (mammal species whose females have a pouch to carry the offspring)

Adjective

marsupial m or f (plural marsupiais)

1. marsupial (of or relating to marsupials)

Etymology

Borrowed from French marsupial.

Noun

marsupial n (plural marsupiale)

1. marsupial

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin marsūpiālis, from Latin marsūpium "pouch", from Ancient Greek μαρσίππιον (marsíppion). More at marsupio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maɾsuˈpjal/ [maɾ.suˈpjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: mar‧su‧pial

Adjective

marsupial m or f (masculine and feminine plural marsupiales)

1. marsupial

Noun

marsupial m (plural marsupiales)

1. marsupial

Further reading

• “marsupial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10