civet cat

noun

1

: civet sense 1

2

: ringtail sense 2

3

: any of several small spotted skunks (genus Spilogale) of western North America

Examples of civet cat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It is thought to have originated in an animal population, perhaps bats, before being passed to civet cats—a tropical animal that looks like a mix of a dog and an ocelot—then to people. —Byerin Prater, Fortune Well, 10 Nov. 2023

These wet markets facilitated the emergence of SARS-CoV-1 in bats, civet cats, and humans in 2002 and, some speculate, the novel coronavirus in 2019. —Sonia Shah, Foreign Affairs, 17 Apr. 2020

In the case of this virus, the civet cat was an unwitting intermediate host of a viral spillover from bats that made the transition to humans. —Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 18 Mar. 2011

However, recent research has implicated bats of the genus Rhinolophus as the natural, unaffected reservoir of the SARS virus, not the civet cat (7). —Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 18 Mar. 2011

Word History

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

civet cat

noun

: a long-bodied short-legged African mammal that is related to the mongooses and produces civet

Medical Definition

civet cat

noun

: any of several carnivorous mammals (family Viverridae)

especially : a long-bodied short-legged African animal (Civettictis civetta) that produces most of the civet of commerce