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nutria

noun
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nu·​tria | \ ˈnü-trē-ə How to pronounce nutria (audio) , ˈnyü- \

Definition of nutria

1 : the durable usually light brown fur of a nutria
2 : a large South American semiaquatic rodent (Myocastor coypus) with webbed hind feet and a round nearly hairless tail that has been introduced into parts of Europe, Asia, and North America

Examples of nutria in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web That includes all game animals, birds and furbearers, including bear, beaver, coyote, deer, opossum, rabbit, raccoon, squirrel, nutria, fox, mountain lion, groundhog, bobcat, Red Wolf, feral swine, and alligator. — Leada Gore | Lgore@al.com, al, "Game wardens put an end to Sand Mountain Sam, Alabama’s weather-predicting possum," 15 Jan. 2020 The company could get rid of more than 55,000 nutria each year. — Victoria Dodge, chicagotribune.com, "Invasive rodent destroying coast target of dog treat business," 17 Sep. 2019 The swamp rodents, called nutria, are setting off alarms in California. — Samantha Maldonado And Terry Chea, SFChronicle.com, "Voracious swamp rodents set off alarms in California," 25 Sep. 2019 The animals are social, so the collared animals will lead the team to other nutria. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "California ramps up efforts to combat invasive swamp rodents," 24 Sep. 2019 Eventually good sense took hold and the nutria-control business was handed over to a resurgent alligator population. — al, "Is this T-shirt the best Lower Alabama in-joke ever?," 17 Sep. 2019 The company could get rid of more than 55,000 nutria each year. — Victoria Dodge, chicagotribune.com, "Invasive rodent destroying coast target of dog treat business," 17 Sep. 2019 In the ‘60s, the Gulf Coast was plagued by an invasion of nutria, a large non-native rodent species capable of doing serious damage to wetland ecologies. — al, "Is this T-shirt the best Lower Alabama in-joke ever?," 17 Sep. 2019 But now there's another reason to make nutria a target. — Victoria Dodge, chicagotribune.com, "Invasive rodent destroying coast target of dog treat business," 17 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nutria.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of nutria

1811, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for nutria

borrowed from American Spanish, from Spanish, "otter," altered (with n of uncertain origin) from Latin lutra — more at otter

Note: Joan Coromines (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 1981) suggests that Greek énydris "otter" may have been the source of the n in nutria; he notes dialectal forms such as lóndriga that maintain l.

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Time Traveler for nutria

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The first known use of nutria was in 1811

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Last Updated

30 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Nutria.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nutria. Accessed 20 Feb. 2020.

More from Merriam-Webster on nutria

Spanish Central: Translation of nutria

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about nutria

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