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'OPOSSUM,' O LOVELY 'POSSUM'

Notes on a marsupial with various names

> What to Know
> 
> Both possum and opossum correctly refer to the Virginia opossum frequently
> seen in North America. In common use, possum is the usual term; in technical
> or scientific contexts opossum is preferred. Opossum can be pronounced with
> its first syllable either voiced play or silent play .

So cute. So many teeth.



Ranging from southern Canada all the way to northern Costa Rica, the Virginia
opossum (Didelphis virginiana, if we want to get technical) is the only
marsupial found north of Mexico. Most English speakers who encounter the
creature drop the Virginia and refer to it simply as an opossum. Except that's
not quite right, because most of us call it a possum. Hmm.


THE ORIGIN OF '(O)POSSUM'

Both possum and opossum date to the early 17th century, though current evidence
of opossum dates all way back to 1610, as opposed to the upstart possum, which
current evidence dates only to, um, 1613. The word existed in (at least) two
earlier forms—apossoun and opassom—and is from a Virginia Algonquian word the
exact form of which is now unknown, but that itself comes from the Algonquian
*wa·p-, meaning "white," and *-aʔθemw-, meaning "dog, small animal." (A note
about those asterisks: they mean that the words are assumed to have existed or
have been reconstructed by means of comparative evidence. This etymology
business is no joke.)

The earlier forms, apossoun and opassom, eventually settled into opossum and, in
a process known as aphesis—which is the loss of a short unaccented vowel at the
beginning of a word—the variation possum. (Aphesis also gave us lone from
alone.)

Textbooks, encyclopedias, and science publications favor opossum, but when it
comes to general speech and writing, possum is and has been the far more common
choice. (And it's always the choice in the idiom play possum, which means "to
pretend to be asleep or dead." It comes from a trick the Virginia opossum does:
when it's caught it goes catatonic. Cool!)




AUSTRALIAN POSSUMS

But there's more to this story. So far, we've only addressed the fact that the
Virginia opossum, a marsupial that makes its home in large swaths of North
America, is referred to with both possum and opossum. But there's another group
of marsupials out there in the world that is also referred to with both terms.
Yes, the chiefly arboreal marsupial mammals of Australia and New Guinea are
referred to by those who live there as possums, or sometimes opossums. In this
case, getting technical about things can help: the term phalanger accurately
refers to these creature of Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and islands west to
Celebes and east to the Solomons.



The fact of there being these other Australasian marsupials (which got the name
because they resemble the Virginia opossum) means that there are some people who
assert that the two terms are only properly applied as distinguishing terms:
they will tell you that the Australasian marsupials are only properly called
"possums," and that the creature in your American backyard is only properly
called an "opossum." (Note that there are other American marsupials, other than
the Virginia opossum but also of the Didelphidae family, and they too are called
both possums and opossums, with the latter being the prescribed name.)

Your friendly Merriam-Webster dictionary puts the full definition for the
American creatures under the word opossum, and the full definition for the
Australasian creatures under the word possum, but both entries acknowledge that
both words are used for the creatures of both areas.




HOW TO PRONOUNCE 'OPOSSUM'

To make things even more confusing, some people say you should spell it opossum
but pronounce it without that first syllable play ; our pronunciation guidance
at the entry for opossum recognizes this by putting that first syllable in
parentheses: (ə-)ˈpä-səm. You can, indeed, write opossum and say it like
"possum" and be using an officially recognized pronunciation. Voicing that first
syllable makes the word sound like this: play .

What does all this mean for you? Well, if you are looking for guidance on what
to call the cute little tick-eating North American marsupial with the opposable
thumbs on its hind feet you can choose either opossum or possum (or opossum
pronounced like possum is), and you should know that possum is far more common
but that opossum is what the science-types prefer. Also know that possum and
opossum can both refer to some Australasian marsupials that can also be properly
called phalangers.


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