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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

civet en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈsɪ.vɪt/

Etymology

From French civette, from Italian zibetto, from Medieval Latin zibethum, from Arabic زَبَاد (zabād).

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) Any of the small carnivorous catlike mammals encompassing certain species from the families Viverridae, Eupleridae, and Nandiniidae, native to tropical Africa and Asia.
  2. (uncountable) The musky perfume produced by the animal; civetone.
    • LEONATO. Indeed he looks younger than he did, by the loss of a beard. DON PEDRO. Nay, a' rubs himself with civet: can you smell him out by that? CLAUDIO. That's as much as to say the sweet youth's in love. 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
    • Your onely way to make a good pomander, is this. Take an ownce of the pureſt garden mould, clenſed and ſteeped ſeauen daies in change of motherleſſe roſe water, then take the beſt Labdanum, Benioine, both Storaxes, amber greece, and Ciuet, and muſke, incorporate them together, and work them into what form you pleaſe; this, if your breath bee not to valiant, will make you ſmell as ſweete as my Ladies dogge. 1607, [attributed to Thomas Tomkis], Lingva: Or The Combat of the Tongue, and the Five Senses for Superiority. A Pleasant Comœdie., London: Printed by G[eorge] Eld, for Simon Waterson, →OCLC, act IV, scene iii:
    • […]even if modest gestures of modernisation have slimmed down the ceremony, the chrism of unction is no longer perfumed with animal effluents—ambergris, musk and civet—and Andrew Lloyd Webber added to Handel and Elgar? 2023 May 6, Simon Schama, “Magic and Modernity”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:
  3. (US, countable, regional, uncountable) A spotted skunk.
    • When inquiring of people, ask about "civets", for spotted skunks are often mistakenly known as civets. 2008, Charles A. Long, The Wild Mammals of Wisconsin, Pensoft, page 410:
    • We ran trap lines on the way to school. Never caught much but skunk, civet and muskrats. 2014, Dale E. Vander Linden, Eight Fine Sons—and Dale, page 68:
    • I believe other animals are the same; but skunk and civet are not so particular what they eat; anything half decomposed or rotten will answer. 1906, A. R. Harding, editor, A Book of Instruction Giving Many Methods of Trapping—A Valuable Book for Trappers, page 41:
  4. (US, countable, regional, uncountable) A ringtail (Bassariscus astutus).
    • Raccoon, ringtail (civet), coyotes, badgers, bobcat, fox, and skunk were all hunted or trapped for furs throughout the settled portions of the Aravaipa area. 1991, Diana Hadley, Peter Warshall, Don Bufkin, Environmental Change in Aravaipa, 1870–1970: An Ethnoecological Survey, Arizona State Office of the Bureau of Land Management, page 273:
    • The civet, Bassariscus astutus flavus, a new host for Uncinaria lotoris.— Several specimens of this hookworm, described by Schwartz (1925) from Procyon lotor, were found in the small intestine of the civet or ring-tailed cat at College Station, Texas, by the writer December 15, 1925. 1928, “Society Proceedings”, in The Journal of Parasitology, volume 14, number 3, page 197:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
civets Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

African palm civet · palm civet · tiger civet · civetlike · Asian palm civet · civet cat · otter civet · masked palm civet · ring-tailed civet cat · civeted · Malagasy civet · civet coffee · civet bean · civetone · large-spotted civet · civvy cat · true civet

Synonyms

civet cat

Translations (93)

tr misk kedisi (cat-like animal) · pl cyweta (cat-like animal) · mvv binangki' (cat-like animal) · tl alamid (cat-like animal) · ja 霊猫 (cat-like animal) · ms musang (cat-like animal) · ru циве́тта (cat-like animal) · as জহামাল (cat-like animal) · af siwet (cat-like animal) · lt civeta (cat-like animal) · cmn 靈貓 /灵猫 (cat-like animal) · pt algália (perfume) · ca algàlia (perfume) · kqr kaka'a (cat-like animal) · ka ციბეტინი (cat-like animal) · ca civeta (cat-like animal) · hi कस्तूरी बिलाव (cat-like animal) · twu kue (cat-like animal) · es civeta (cat-like animal) · ms luak (cat-like animal) · nl civetkat (cat-like animal) · fa زباد (perfume) · jv dhèdhès (perfume) · cmn 麝貓香 /麝猫香 (perfume) · hi जुबाद (perfume) · ru виве́рра (cat-like animal) · id musang (cat-like animal) · de Zibetkatze (cat-like animal) · ru цибети́н (perfume) · as জহামাল (perfume) · sw ngawa (cat-like animal) · nko tsamboyi (cat-like animal) · eo zibeto (cat-like animal) · it zibetto (cat-like animal) · sw zabadi (perfume) · ko 사향고양이 (cat-like animal) · sa गन्धमार्जार (cat-like animal) · pt gato-de-algália (cat-like animal) · hi गंधबिलाव (cat-like animal) · sib pugah (cat-like animal) · km សំពោច (cat-like animal) · fa غالیه (perfume) · pl cywet (perfume) · te పునుగుపిల్లి (cat-like animal) · de Zibet (perfume) · th ชะมด (cat-like animal) · om tirenye (cat-like animal) · su jebad (perfume) · sv sibet (perfume) · as জহামলা (perfume) · yo ẹtà (cat-like animal) · fi sivetti (cat-like animal) · kn ಪುನುಗು (perfume) · ar زَبَاد (cat-like animal) · bdr puju (cat-like animal) · cmn 麝貓 /麝猫 (cat-like animal) · el μοσχογαλή η κιβέττη (cat-like animal) · ka ციბეტა (cat-like animal) · fi sivetti (perfume) · hu cibetmacska (cat-like animal) · njy jwɔb (cat-like animal) · hi मुश्कबिलाव (cat-like animal) · irk qaynai (cat-like animal) · ja 麝香猫 (cat-like animal) · mg alazy (cat-like animal) · cs cibetka (cat-like animal) · cmn 麝香貓 /麝香猫 (cat-like animal) · es almizcle (perfume) · as জহামলা (cat-like animal) · ka აფრიკული ვივერა (cat-like animal) · et tsiibet (cat-like animal) · ro zibetă (cat-like animal) · gu જબાદી બિલાડી (cat-like animal) · sa गन्धमृग (cat-like animal) · fa زباد (cat-like animal) · fr civette (cat-like animal) · vi cầy (cat-like animal) · bg цибет (cat-like animal) · pt civeta (cat-like animal) · hi जुबाद (cat-like animal) · jv rasé (cat-like animal) · kn ಪುನುಗು ಬೆಕ್ಕು (cat-like animal) · dyi cɛnpige (cat-like animal) · af siwetkat (cat-like animal) · hi मुश्क बिलाई (cat-like animal) · sv sibetolja (perfume) · hi गन्धमार्जार (cat-like animal) · mvv munin (cat-like animal) · fa گربه زباد (cat-like animal) · fi sivettikissa (cat-like animal) · el μόσχος (perfume) · kzr bayti̧w (cat-like animal) · sne musang (cat-like animal)