zemnihttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zemni_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezemni, n.
Revised 2018

zemninoun

Now historical and rare.
  1. 1775–
    Any of several blind mole-rats of the genus Spalax occurring in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. Also zemni-rat.
    1. 1775–6
      There is another animal in Poland and Russia, which is called ziemni, or zemni [French un autre animal appelé ziemni ou zemni]; which is of the same race as the zisel, but larger, stronger, and more mischievous.
      W. Kenrick et al., translation of Comte de Buffon, Natural History of Animals, Vegetables, & Minerals vol. IV. 89
    2. 1839
      Some..are devoid of the auricle, as the mole, the zemni-rat, the mole-rat.
      Todd's Cyclopædia of Anatomy & Physiology vol. II. 571/2
    3. 1940
      Frederic Cuvier..referred to two kinds of Mole-Rats: the Zemmi (Spalax) and the Zocor (Siphneus or Myospalax), and joined the two in a single genus: Spalax.
      Bulletin Fan Memorial Inst. Biology Zool. Series September–October 168
    4. 1973
      Coleridge is reading Cuvier's Lectures of Comparative Anatomy tr William Ross... The clue lies in the reference to the Zemni and the eel in the last paragraph.
      K. Coburn in S. T. Coleridge, Notebooks vol. III. (Notes) §4356

zemni, n. was revised in June 2018.

zemni, n. was last modified in July 2023.