marten cat
- noun
- /ˈmɑrtən kæt/
:
marta
- The marten cat moves swiftly through the branches, hunting for prey.
Examples
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The marten cat climbed the tree swiftly.
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Farmers sometimes mistake a marten cat for a domestic cat due to its size and agility.
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The fur of a marten cat was once highly valued in the fur trade.
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Did you see the marten cat in the garden?
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The marten cat moves swiftly through the branches, hunting for prey.
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Farmers sometimes mistake a marten cat for a domestic cat due to its size and agility.
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The fur of a marten cat was once highly valued in the fur trade.
Synonyms
1
8.1
A small, quick forest animal like a weasel with soft fur
A group of meat-eating mammals in the weasel family that live in northern forests
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is clearly built from two nouns and signals an animal, so a learner who knows 'marten' and 'cat' can infer it denotes a small mammal with cat-like qualities; however the precise reference (a marten is actually a mustelid, not a feline) and whether it simply means 'marten' or a distinct cat-like animal is not fully predictable. Because the composition gives a partial clue but leaves taxonomic/semantic uncertainty, the expression is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Marten cat may come from people who thought the small, tree-living marten moved like a little cat, climbing quietly through branches and having soft, cat-like fur. So the name came to mean this small, agile animal rather than a 'house cat'.