meerkat

 
Pronunciation: /ˈmɪəkat/

noun

  • a small southern African mongoose, especially the suricate.
    • Suricata and other genera, family Herpestidae: three species

Origin:

early 18th century: from South African Dutch, from Dutch, 'long-tailed monkey', apparently from meer 'sea' + kat 'cat', but perhaps originally an alteration of an oriental word; compare with Hindi markaṭ 'ape'