Where does “possum” come from?

Possum comes from Powhatan aposoum, a word of unknown meaning in the Powhatan language.

possum (English): An opossum, a marsupial of the family Didelphidae...

Definitions

  1. An opossum, a marsupial of the family Didelphidae...

Ancestry of “possum”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishopossumAny American marsupial of the family Didelphidae....
2Powhatanaposoumwhite animal
3Proto-Algonquian*wa·p-aʔθemwa—

Words derived from “possum”

Every word from Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-aʔθemwa →Every word from Powhatan aposoum →Every word from English opossum →
possum — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer