fossorial

[prettygoodword]

fossorial (fo-SAWR-ee-uhl, fo-SOHR-ee-uhl) - (zool.) adj., adapted to digging and burrowing; living underground


Okay, if I'd been paying attention, I'd've run this one right after cursorial, and be ready to run arboreal immediately after. Ah, well. This was also coined in the 1830s from Late Latin, though in this case from fossōrius, of digging, from Latin fossor, digger, from fodere, to dig (ultimately from PIE *bʰedʰh₂-, to pierce/dig).

---L.

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

I could see that as an arch synonym for “basement-dwelling” (an adjective, by the way, that I’ve been known to self-apply.)

[prettygoodword]

Heh. Yeah.