/mahr"meuht/ , n.
1. any bushy-tailed, stocky rodent of the genus Marmota, as the woodchuck.
2. any of certain related animals, as the prairie dogs.
[ 1600-10; marmotte, OF, appar. n. deriv. of marmotter to mutter, murmur (referring to the whistling noises made by such animals), equiv. to marm- imit. base denoting a variety of indistinct, continuous sounds (cf. MURMUR) + -ot ( t ) er suffix of expressive verbs (though v. is attested only in mod. F) ]