When I was little we were all very fond of and fascinated by animals. “My Family and Other Animals” was a favourite book.
Imagine our anticipation then, when Dad announced one day that he was bringing home a water otter. But we all laughed when he showed us a new kettle.
Remembering this recently, I wondered about the origins of the word “otter”. To my surprise it seems as though it comes from the same roots as “water”, and Greek hidor=water(think “hydrate” and “hydrogen”) and Latin unda=wave (think “undulate”). And Russian voda=water (think vodka=waterlet).
So that’s the water otter. An animal that lives in water.
The Water Otter
When I was little we were all very fond of and fascinated by animals. “My Family and Other Animals” was a favourite book.
Imagine our anticipation then, when Dad announced one day that he was bringing home a water otter. But we all laughed when he showed us a new kettle.
Remembering this recently, I wondered about the origins of the word “otter”. To my surprise it seems as though it comes from the same roots as “water”, and Greek hidor=water (think “hydrate” and “hydrogen”) and Latin unda=wave (think “undulate”). And Russian voda=water (think vodka=waterlet).
So that’s the water otter. An animal that lives in water.