English word origin

Etymology of vole

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

noun

Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the tribes Arvicolini, Ellobiusini, Clethrionomyini, Pliomyini, Phenacomyini and Prometheomyini.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from Norn vollj, from Old Norse vǫllr (“field”), from Proto-Germanic *walþuz (“forest”). The Orkney dialectal term vole mouse, lit. “field mouse”, was introduced to general English by George Barry in 1805; John Fleming in 1828 was first to refer to the creature by the epithet vole alone. Displaced earlier names for these species which also classified them as mice, e.g. short-tailed field mouse.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Borrowed-form mentionvolljnrn
Derivation mentionvǫllrnon · field
Derivation mention*walþuzgem-pro

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "taxlink",
      "args": {
        "1": "Clethrionomys glareolus",
        "2": "species"
      },
      "expansion": "Clethrionomys glareolus"
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nrn",
        "3": "vollj"
      },
      "expansion": "Norn vollj"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "vǫllr",
        "t": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse vǫllr (“field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*walþuz",
        "4": "",
        "5": "forest"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *walþuz (“forest”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Bank vole",
      "bank vole"
    ],
    [
      "vollj",
      "vollj#Norn"
    ],
    [
      "vǫllr",
      "vǫllr#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "*walþuz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/walþuz"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the tribes Arvicolini, Ellobiusini, Clethrionomyini, Pliomyini, Phenacomyini and Prometheomyini."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "01acf55677c556cc493684c21c995b3f16e49f6acc090d4039c12eb66d567263",
      "rawRecordSha256": "1b8459787da5832c2f9568a98b14a5785b006adcc47384b6d77b165bec346a04",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 37146
    }
  ],
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

verb

To win all the tricks by a vole.

noun

A deal in a card game, écarté, that draws all the tricks.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from French vole.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Borrowed-form mentionvolefr

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "vole"
      },
      "expansion": "French vole"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "vole",
      "vole#French"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To win all the tricks by a vole."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "intransitive"
      ],
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    },
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A deal in a card game, écarté, that draws all the tricks."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ],
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for vole →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-dm9sZQ