reremouse · noun — A bat (flying mammal). It carries an Arena rating of 1504, earned across 38 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, reremouse ranks #141 of 17,177 for Most Whimsical Words, #231 of 17,201 for Funniest Words, #491 of 17,180 for Most Ingenious Words, #784 of 17,151 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
Why “reremouse” is a great word
REREMOUSE — [Noun] An archaic term for a bat, the nocturnal flying mammal. From Middle English reremous, from Old English hrēremūs, hrœ̄remūs, likely from hrēran ("to move, shake, stir") + mūs ("mouse"). Unlike "bat," the blunt modern label, or "chiropter," the sterile taxonomic term, reremouse is a creature of folk observation. It is the dusky flutter in the belfry, the leathern shudder among the ivy, the mouse that learned the tremulous air—a whisper of disturbance in the quiet attic of the language, a name for a mystery captured not by classification, but by its ancient, unsettled motion.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle English reremous, from Old English hrēremūs, hrœ̄remūs (“bat”). Related to rear (“to move, shake, stir”).
noun
- A bat (flying mammal).e.g.“Argent, a reremouse sable,[…]” — 1923, Notes and Queries, page 299:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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