Guinea pig

Cavia porcellus

Name

Whatever the reason, this perception of pigginess occurred in many languages other than English; the German word for them is ', literally "Little Sea Pigs" (sailing ships stopping to reprovision in the New World would pick up stores of guinea pigs, which provided an easily transportable source of fresh meat), the Russian and Polish word for them is similar: "morskaja svinka" (Морская свинка) and "świnka morska" respectively, meaning also "Little Sea Pig". The French word is ', (Indian pig), the Dutch used to call it ' (Guinean piglet), and in Sweden and Denmark they are called ' (a combination of the Latin word mare for ocean, and Swedish/Danish svin which means pig). In Greek they are called 'indika xoiridia' (Small Indian Pigs ; ινδικά χοιρίδια), and in Portuguese, the term is "porquinho da Índia", literally "little pig of the Indies". However, this perception of pigginess is not universal to all languages or cultures. For example, the common Spanish word is 'conejillo de Indias' (Indian bunny rabbit).

Related Topics:
English - German - Russian - Polish - French - Dutch - Mare - Greek - Portuguese

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The scientific name of a common species is Cavia porcellus, with ' being Latin for "little pig."

Related Topics:
Scientific name - Latin

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The origin of "guinea" in "guinea pig" is even harder to explain. One theory is that the animals were brought to Europe by way of Guinea, leading people to think they had originated there. Another theory suggests that "Guinea" in the case of the guinea pig is a corruption of "Guiana," an area in South America. A common misconception is that they were so named because they were sold as the closest thing to a pig one could get for a guinea (an old British coin with a value of 21 shillings, or 1.05 GBP in modern decimal currency). However, evidence does not support this conjecture: for example, the Dutch name refers to the country of Guinea rather than the British coin, and the first guinea pig was described in 1554 by the Swiss naturalist Konrad Gesner more than a hundred years before the first guinea was struck.

Related Topics:
Europe - Guinea - Guiana - South America - Guinea - Shilling - Dutch - 1554 - Swiss - Konrad Gesner

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