Meaning

noun stocky coarse-furred burrowing rodent with a short bushy tail found throughout the northern hemisphere; hibernates in winter

originFrom Middle French marmotte, from Old French marmotte; further etymology uncertain, possibly from a Gallo-Romance base *marm- (“to mumble; to murmur”) (referring to the sound made by the marmot when eating; possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *mur- (whence murmur) and ultimately imitative; compare also French marmot and marmonner) + Middle French -otte (diminutive suffix). Akin to French…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0