écureuil (French)

Where does "écureuil" come from?

The French noun 'écureuil' is inherited from Middle French 'escureul', which traces back through Old French 'escurel' to Late Latin '*scūriolus'[1][4]. This Late Latin form was a diminutive of '*scūrius', a variant of Classical Latin 'sciūrus'[1][4]. Ultimately, the Latin term descends from Ancient Greek 'σκίουρος'[1][4]. This Greek word combines 'σκιά', meaning 'shadow', with 'οὐρά', meaning 'tail'[2].

Open questions

• The traditional derivation of the Ancient Greek source word as a compound meaning one who generates shade with its tail may be a folk etymology, and the term could alternatively be of Pre-Greek origin. [3]

Full etymology tree

• écureuil (French), 'squirrel'
  • inherited escureul (Middle French)
    • inherited escurel (Old French), 'squirrel'
      • inherited *scūriolus (Vulgar Latin)
        • derived *scūrius (Vulgar Latin)
          • derived sciurus (Latin), 'squirrel'
            • borrowed σκίουρος (skíouros) (Ancient Greek), 'squirrel'
              • compound σκιά (skiá) (Ancient Greek), 'shadow'
              • compound οὐρά (ourá) (Ancient Greek), 'the tail (of a lion, dog, etc.)'

Ancestors

• escurel (Old French)
• sciurus (Latin)
• σκίουρος (Ancient Greek)

Descendants and derived words

• écureuil d'Eurasie (French)
• écureuil gris (French)
• écureuil occidental (French)
• écureuil roux (French)

Sources

1. écureuil (French) - Wiktionary
2. sciurus (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. σκίουρος (skíouros) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
4. escurel (Old French) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris