aardvark
nounUK /ˈɑːd.vɑːk/ · US /ˈɑɹd.vɑɹk/
Etymology Borrowed from Afrikaans aardvark (now rare), erdvark, from aarde (“earth”, from Middle Dutch aerde) + vark (“pig”, from Middle Dutch varken). Early European colonists in South Africa noticed that the animal was similar to a pig, while aarde hints at the animal's habit of burrowing.
1
The nocturnal, insectivorous, burrowing mammal Orycteropus afer, of the order Tubulidentata and somewhat resembling a pig. Common in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
- The aardvark burrows in the ground and feeds mostly on termites, which it catches with its long, slimy tongue.
- If ‘aardvark lover’ has that syntactic structure, then it determinately means “lover of aardvarks.2007 August 15, Wayne A. Davis, “Replies to Green, Szabó, Jeshion, and Siebel”, in Philosophical Studies, volume 137, number 3, →DOI:
- Derived terms
- aardvark cucumber, aardvarking, aardvarklike, Brazilian aardvark, aardvark to zymurgy