dor·mouse

(dôr′mous′)

n. pl. dor·mice (-mīs′)

Any of various small omnivorous rodents of the family Gliridae of Eurasia and Africa, having long furred tails and known for their long hibernation periods.

[Middle English, perhaps alteration (influenced by mous, mouse) of Anglo-Norman *dormeus, inclined to sleep, hibernating, from Old French dormir, to sleep; see dormant.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dormouse

(ˈdɔːˌmaʊs)

n, pl -mice

(Animals) any small Old World rodent of the family Gliridae, esp the Eurasian Muscardinus avellanarius, resembling a mouse with a furry tail

[C15: dor-, perhaps from Old French dormir to sleep, from Latin dormīre + mouse]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dor•mouse

(ˈdɔrˌmaʊs)

n., pl. -mice (-ˌmaɪs)

any small usu. bushy-tailed Old World climbing rodent of the family Gliridae.

[1400–50; late Middle English dormowse, dormoise, perhaps Anglo-French derivative of Old French dormir to sleep (see dormant), with final syllable reanalyzed as mouse]

dormouse

- A rodent but not a mouse, it may be a corrupted form of French dormeus, "sleepy."

dormouse

[ˈdɔːmaʊs] N (dormice (pl)) → lirón m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dormouse

[ˈdɔː^rmaʊs] [dormice] [ˈdɔː^rmaɪs] (pl) n → loir m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

dormouse

n pl <dormice> → Haselmaus f; edible or fat dormouse → Siebenschläfer m; common dormouse → Gemeiner Siebenschläfer

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dormouse

[ˈdɔːˌmaʊs] n (dormice (pl)) [ˈdɔːˌmaɪs] → ghiro

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in classic literature

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head.

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They can't be nice, though they do say `as fat as a dormouse.' It is not a wonder they are fat, sleeping all day, and only waking to eat all night.

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John Dormouse and his daughter began to sell peppermints and candles.

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She was fond of all boy's plays, and greatly preferred cricket not merely to dolls, but to the more heroic enjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush.

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A peach - a blushing, rich-flavored fruit, nestling in the trellis work on the garden- wall, hidden beneath its long, green leaves, - this little vegetable production, that a dormouse would nibble up without a thought, was sufficient to recall to the memory of this great monarch the mournful shade of the last surintendant of France.

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The donkeys galloped, the wagon rolled on smoothly, the boys slept (Lamp-Wick snored like a dormouse) and the little, fat driver sang sleepily between his teeth.

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The whole had a slovenly confined and sleepy look, like a cage for a human dormouse: while he, looming dark and heavy in the shadow of a corner by the window, looked like the human dormouse for whom it was fitted up - as indeed he was.

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The first sorrow I can remember was for the death of a dormouse. I regret to say that I sat upon it.

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Soon after this, the discovery of Jamie curled up in the sofa corner, as sound asleep as a dormouse, suggested the propriety of going home, and a general move was made.

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Gradgrind, if she said anything on the subject, she would come a little way out of her wrappers, like a feminine dormouse, and say:

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``Silent as a dormouse,'' said the Outlaw; ``and never trust me but I am grieved for thy daughter.

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"I can remedy that entirely," said he of the Grove, "and in this way: before we begin the battle, I will come up to your worship fair and softly, and give you three or four buffets, with which I shall stretch you at my feet and rouse your anger, though it were sleeping sounder than a dormouse."

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