Rodentia
/roʊˈdɛnʃiə/noun
An order of mammals that includes mice, rats, squirrels, beavers, and related animals.
Did you know?Rodentia is named from Latin rodere, “to gnaw,” and the same ancient root also gave English words like erode and corrode, all carrying the image of slow, relentless eating-away.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*reyd- / *reudh-
“A root associated with gnawing, scraping, or tearing apart”
Latin
Latin
rodere
“To gnaw, bite, or scrape away”
Latin
Latin
rodent-
“Gnawing; used as a participial stem for animals that gnaw”
17th–19th Century
New Latin / English
Rodentia
“The scientific order of gnawing mammals”
Modern English
English
rodentia
“A taxonomic order of gnawing mammals”