Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from German.
Etymons:Frenchzisel; GermanZiesel.
< (i) Frenchzisel (1767 in the passage translated in quots. 1775–6 and 1780),and its etymon (ii) GermanZiesel, †Zeisel (also more fully Zieselmaus, Zieselratte; Middle High Germanzisel), probably <…
< (i) Frenchzisel (1767 in the passage translated in quots. 1775–6 and 1780),and its etymon (ii) GermanZiesel, †Zeisel (also more fully Zieselmaus, Zieselratte; Middle High Germanzisel), probably <Czechsysel, cognate with (perhaps showing a different ablaut grade) Polishsuseł, Old Russiansusol″ (Russian (regional) susol; compare souslikn.), Bulgariansăsel; further etymology uncertain.Compare slightly earlier souslikn. and later siseln.
Notes
Compare Old High Germanzisimūs (also cisimūs, sisimūs; Middle High Germanzisemus) and Old Englishsisemūs, in sense ‘dormouse’ (with the second element compare mousen.), which may reflect an earlier borrowing < a West Slavonic language, although this has sometimes been disputed.
Meaning & use
Now rare.
1775–
Any of several Eurasian ground squirrels (genus Spermophilus), esp. the European souslik, S. citellus.
[1607
In Germany they cal it Pile and Zisel, and of this Germaine word was the Latine Citellus_feigned.
E. Topsell, Historie of Foure-footed Beastes 532]
1775–6
The zisel [French zisel] is smaller than the hamster.
W. Kenrick et al., translation of Comte de Buffon, Natural History of Animals, Vegetables, & Mineralsvol. IV. 88
1780
The Zisel, or Earless Marmot.
W. Smellie, translation of Comte de Buffon, Natural History General & Particularvol. VIII. 229
1833
The zizel or souslic marmot.
Penny Cyclopaediavol. I. 441/2
1893
Other Southern districts [were visited] by zisels and worms.
Edinburgh Review January 20
1941
T[richostrongylus]colubriformis, a very common parasite of the sheep, has also been reported from a long series of other hosts, as goat, cattle and other ruminants, horse, squirrel, hare, rabbit, zizel, several kinds of apes and monkeys, and man.
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
iːfleece
ihappy
ɪkit
ɛdress
atrap, bath
ɑːstart, palm, bath
ɒlot
ɔːthought, force
ʌstrut
ʊfoot
uːgoose
əletter
əːnurse
ɪənear
ɛːsquare
ʊəcure
eɪface
ʌɪpride
aʊmouth
əʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ãgratin
ɒ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
ifleece, happy
ɪkit
ɛdress
ætrap, bath
ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
ɑrstart
ɔcloth, thought
ɔrnorth, force
ʊfoot
ugoose
əstrut, comma
ərnurse, letter
ɪ(ə)rnear
ɛ(ə)rsquare
ʊ(ə)rcure
eɪface
aɪpride
aʊmouth
oʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ɑ̃gratin
æ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values