tarbagan

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian тарбаган (tarbagan), from Southern Altai (Teleut) тарбаган (tarbagan)[1], ultimately from Proto-Mongolic *tarbagan.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɑːbəɡən/

Noun

tarbagan (plural tarbagans)

  1. A species of marmot, Marmota sibirica, which lives on the steppes of Central Asia.
    • 1969, Philip Ziegler, The Black Death, Folio Society 2007, p. 13:
      One can only guess which rodent was most readily to be found near Lake Issyk-Koul in 1338 but the experience of later epidemics points to the tarbagan or Manchurian marmot, a beguiling squirrel-like creature much hunted for its skin.

References
  1. "tarbagan." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster. 2002.
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