noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American:/ˈdɔɹ.maʊs/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈdɔː.maʊs/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -aʊs
CMU ARPABET:D AO1 R M AW2 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae.
Glis glis (edible dormouse).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae.
Muscardinus avellanarius (hazel dormouse).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A person who sleeps a great deal, or who falls asleep readily (by analogy with the sound hibernation of the dormouse).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
small furry-tailed squirrel-like Old World rodent that becomes torpid in cold weather
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
From Middle English dormowse, of uncertain origin. Possibly from a dialectal *dor-, from Old Norse dár (“benumbed”) + mous (“mouse”). More at doze, mouse. The word is sometimes conjectured to come from an Anglo-Norman derivative of Old French dormir (“to sleep”) (as *dormouse (“tending to be dormant”), with second element mistaken for mouse), but no such Anglo-Norman term is known to have existed.
Across languages
Translations
100 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
gjer
— rodent
Armenian:
քնամուկ
(kʻnamuk)
— rodent
Asturian:
llirón
— rodent
Asturian:
llira
— rodent
Azerbaijani:
süleysin
— rodent
Basque:
muxar
— rodent
Belarusian:
соня-палчок
(sonja-palčok)
— rodent
Breton:
lir
— rodent
Breton:
hunegan
— rodent
Bulgarian:
сънливец
(sǎnlivec)
— rodent
Catalan:
liró
— rodent
Catalan:
rata dormidora
— rodent
Chinese Mandarin:
睡鼠
(shuìshǔ)
— rodent
Czech:
plch
— rodent
Danish:
syvsover
— rodent
Danish:
hasselmus
— rodent
Dutch:
relmuis
— rodent
Dutch:
hazelmuis
— rodent
Esperanto:
gliro
— rodent
Estonian:
kunel
— rodent
Faroese:
heslimús
— rodent
Finnish:
unikeko
— rodent
French:
loir
— rodent
West-Frisian:
sânslieper
— rodent
Friulian:
glîr
— rodent
Galician:
leirón
— rodent
Galician:
lirio
— rodent
Galician:
liranco
— rodent
German:
Bilch
— rodent
German:
Bilchmaus
— rodent
German:
Schläfer
— rodent
German:
Schlafmaus
— rodent
German:
Siebenschläfer
— rodent
German:
Gartenschläfer
— rodent
German:
Haselmaus
— rodent
German:
Haselmuus
— rodent
Greek:
δασομυωξός
(dasomyoxós)
— rodent
Hungarian:
pele
— rodent
Icelandic:
heslimús
— rodent
Irish:
luch chodlamáin
— rodent
Irish:
dallóg fhéir
— rodent
Italian:
ghiro
— rodent
Italian:
moscardino
— rodent
Italian:
muscardinide
— rodent
Japanese:
ヤマネ
(yamane)
— rodent
Korean:
겨울잠쥐
(gyeouljamjwi)
— rodent
Ladin:
ghiro
— rodent
Latin:
glīs
— rodent
Latin:
nītēdula
— rodent
Latvian:
susuris
— rodent
Lithuanian:
miegapelė
— rodent
Macedonian:
полв
(polv)
— rodent
Maltese:
ġurdien ta’ denbu pjuma
— rodent
Mongolian:
унтаахай
(untaaxaj)
— rodent
Norwegian:
syvsover
— rodent
Norwegian:
sovemus
— rodent
Occitan:
missara
— rodent
Occitan:
greule
— rodent
Polish:
popielica
— rodent
Polish:
pilch
— rodent
Portuguese:
arganaz
— rodent
Romani:
xurtso
— rodent
Romani:
xurtsaika
— rodent
Romanian:
pârș
— rodent
Romansh:
durmigliet
— rodent
Romansh:
glirida
— rodent
Russian:
со́ня
(sónja)
— rodent
Sardinian:
topi de venadroxu
— rodent
Sardinian:
medrona de tzirva
— rodent
Scottish Gaelic:
dallag
— rodent
Serbo-Croatian:
пух
— rodent
Serbo-Croatian:
puh
— rodent
Slovak:
plch
— rodent
Slovene:
polh
— rodent
Lower Sorbian:
pjelch
— rodent
Upper Sorbian:
lěsna myška
— rodent
Upper Sorbian:
połch
— rodent
Upper Sorbian:
połšk
— rodent
Spanish:
lirón
— rodent
Swedish:
sjusovare
— rodent
Swedish:
sovmöss
— rodent
Swedish:
hasselmus
— rodent
Turkish:
kakırca
— rodent
Turkish:
fındık faresi
— rodent
Turkish:
yediuyur
— rodent
Ukrainian:
со́ня
(sónja)
— rodent
Vietnamese:
chuột sóc
— rodent
Welsh:
pathew
— rodent
Yiddish:
שלאָף־מויז
(shlof-moyz)
— rodent
Galician:
leirón
— A person who sleeps a great deal
German:
Siebenschläfer
— A person who sleeps a great deal
German:
Schlafmütze
— A person who sleeps a great deal
Italian:
ghiro
— A person who sleeps a great deal
Norwegian Bokmål:
syvsover
— A person who sleeps a great deal
Norwegian Bokmål:
sjusover
— A person who sleeps a great deal
Norwegian Nynorsk:
sjusovar
— A person who sleeps a great deal
Portuguese:
dorminhoco
— A person who sleeps a great deal
Russian:
со́ня
(sónja)
— A person who sleeps a great deal
Spanish:
lirón
— A person who sleeps a great deal
Turkish:
yediuyuklayangiller
— A person who sleeps a great deal
