Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Hamster |
HamsterNoun1. Short-tailed Old World burrowing rodent with large cheek pouches. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "hamster" was first used: 1607. (references) |
Etymology: Hamster \Ham"ster\, noun. [from German expression hamster.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Hamster n. 1. [Fairchild] A particularly slick little piece of code that does one thing well; a small, self-contained hack. The image is of a hamster happily spinning its exercise wheel. 2. A tailless mouse; that is, one with an infrared link to a receiver on the machine, as opposed to the conventional cable. 3. [UK] Any item of hardware made by Amstrad, a company famous for its cheap plastic PC-almost-compatibles. Source: Jargon File. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A hamster is a kind of rodent. There are many distinct hamster species, most of which are distinguished by their expandable cheek pouches, which reach from their cheeks to their shoulders.
Syrian Hamster Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Sciurognathi Superfamily: Myomorpha Family: Cricetidae Most hamsters in American and English pet stores are Syrian (aka Golden) hamsters. Even the "Teddy Bear" and the so-called "Black Bear" hamsters are all recently bred varieties of Syrian hamsters. All of them may well indeed be the descendants of a single mother.
Hamsters have been used in scientific research in the study of many diseases.
Discovery of the Syrian hamster
In 1839 British zoologist George Waterhouse reportedly found an elderly female hamster in Syria, naming it Cricetus auratus, the Golden Hamster. The hamster's fur was on display at the British Museum. The Syrian hamster was then ignored by European science for the next century. Around 1930, zoologist and Professor at the University of Jerusalem Aharoni found a mother and litter of hamsters in the Syrian desert. By the time he got back to his lab, most had died or escaped. The remaining hamsters were given to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where they were successfully bred. They were a bit bigger than the ones Waterhouse found, so they were named Mesocricetus auratus, although they were probably the same species. Mesocricetus auratus is the current scientific name of Syrian hamsters.
Descendants of these hamsters were shipped to scientific labs around the world, for use as research animals. They arrived in the United Kingdom in 1931, and in 1938 reached the United States. Just about all Golden Hamsters are descended from the original litter found in Syria, except for a few that were brought into the United States by travellers who found them in the desert. A separate stock of hamsters was imported into the US in 1971, but it isn't known if any of today's North American pets are descended from them.
Today there are two other popular varieties of hamsters sold in pet stores: The Dwarf Campbells Russian and the Winter White Russian hamsters. Further, there are two other breeds (Chinese and the Roborovski hamster) that on occasion can be found.
Types of hamsters (Partial list)
Genus mesocricetus
Some breeds of Syrians are known as teddy bear hamsters, standard hamsters, fancy hamsters, or black bear hamsters. All Syrian hamsters were originally from Syria. They may now be extinct in nature, but are popular as house pets all across the world. Adults grow from 5" to 7" in length, and in captivity will usually live from 2 to 3 years.
- Syrian hamster (Golden hamster) - Mesocricetus auratus
The Turkish hamster
- Turkish hamster - Mesocricetus brandti. Also called the Brandts' Hamster, Azerbajaini hamster
- Georgian hamster - Mesocricetus raddei (Also: Ciscaucasian Hamster)
- Romanian hamster - Mesocricetus newtoni
Genus Phodopus
- Siberian hamster proper - Phodopus sungorus sungorus (Also: White Russian hamster; sometimes referred to as a Djungarian)
- Campbell's Dwarf Russian hamster - Phodopus sungorus campbelli (Also often called the Djungarian hamster)
- Mongolian hamster - Phodopus roborovskii. More commonly known as the Roborovskii hamster, these tiny hamsters are now becoming popular as pets.
Genus Calomyscus
Sub-species of the mouse-like hamster include: C. bailwardi baluchi, C. bailwardi mystax, C. bailwardi urartensis
- Mouselike hamster - Calomyscus bailwardi
Mouselike hamster
Genus Cricetus
(Also called the common hamster, black-bellied field hamster)
- European hamster - Cricetus cricetus
Genus Cricetulus
- Mongolian hamster - Cricetulus baranensis (Also: Chinese striped hamster)
- Mongolian Hamster - Cricetulus curtatus
- Long-tailed hamster - Cricetulus longicaudatus
- Tibetan hamster - Cricetulus kamensis
- Kazakh hamster - Cricetulus eversmani (Also: Eversmann's Hamster)
- Chinese hamster - Cricetulus curtatus. These are now becomingpopular as pets; due to their small size, they are inaccurately referred to as "dwarf" hamsters.
- Ratlike hamster - Cricetulus triton. Also: Greater Longtailed Hamster, and the Korean Hamster.
- Ladak Hamster - Cricetulus alticola
- Armenian Hamster - Cricetulus migratorius. Also called the Migratory Grey Hamster
- Gobi - hamster - Cricetulus obscurus
- Transbaikal Hamster - Cricetulus pseudogriseus
Genus Mystromys
- South African hamster - Mystromys albicaudatus
Animals that are not really hamsters
Note that there are some rodents sometimes called "hamsters" that are not part of the hamster family. These rodents include
- South African Hamster (Mystromys albicaudatus), which is really the White Tailed Mouse.
- Maned hamster, or Crested hamster, which is really the Maned Rat (although not nearly as marketable under that name.)
External links
Hamster is a computer jargon term referring to a cordless computer mouse that uses radio or infrared technology. The name derives from the fact that hamsters are similar to mice but lack tails.
- About Hamsters on Petwebsite.Com
- Genome information
- Hamsteriffic.Com
- California Hamster Association
- American Hamster Association
- Hamsters Galore! Community website
- The Alt.Pets.Hamsters newsgroup FAQ
- Hampsterdance2
Hamster is also programming jargon for a small self contained piece of code, like a hamster running in its wheel.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Hamster."
Crosswords: Hamster |
| English words defined with "hamster": Cricetus cricetus ♦ Eurasian hamster ♦ golden hamster ♦ Mesocricetus auratus ♦ Syrian hamster. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "hamster": CHO Cells, Cricetulus ♦ Polyomavirus macacae. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Hamster" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. French (hamster), German (hamster), Portuguese (European hamster, hamster), Swedish (hamster), Turkish (hamster). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries (Monty Python and the Holy Grail ; writing credit: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin) The height of two men, the weight of four, the strength of sixteen; Sir Boris, finest swordsman in the world, and his brother Sir Morris, not the finest swordsman in the world, but the most enthusiastic, and their noble pets, Sir Horace the dog, and Sir Doris the hamster; the Big Knights (The Big Knights; writing credit: Michelle Bochner) There was what, no one at the mutant hamster races and we had one entry into the Madame Curie look-alike contest and he was disqualified later (Real Genius; writing credit: Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and Peter Torokvei.) What about Eric's hamster in fourth grade (That '70s Show; writing credit: Stacia Raymond) Dad, I don't think I'm gonna do it Hamster Style anymore (Orgazmo; writing credit: Trey Parker) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Hamster PSA (1997) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Pictured is a culture dish mounted under a microscope for viewing. A scientist can be seen looking through the microscope at the culture dish. This test assays the effects of chemicals on cultured hamster embryo cells. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer). |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "My hamster" by Thibaut Allender Commentary: "My hamster, looking at the camera." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Mouse neuroblastoma cells (MNA) and baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells provide an excellent environment for amplification of rabies virus without the use of animals. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Hamster" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.96% of the time. "Hamster" is used about 96 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.96% | 95 | 33,629 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.04% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 96 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "hamster": eurasian hamster ♦ golden hamster ♦ syrian hamster. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "hamster": hamster-like. | |
Ending with "hamster": anti-hamster, human-hamster. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
hamster | 5,817 | hamster photo | 63 |
hamster dance | 1,201 | breed hamster | 56 |
hamster toy | 651 | hamster disease | 55 |
dwarf hamster | 501 | hamster food | 54 |
hamster picture | 416 | russian dwarf hamster | 54 |
hamster care | 386 | hamster illness | 54 |
dancing hamster | 376 | hamster pic | 54 |
hamster cage | 281 | hamster type | 50 |
syrian hamster | 260 | care of baby hamster | 46 |
teddy bear hamster | 235 | hamster pregnant | 41 |
breeding hamster | 161 | blast hamster | 39 |
baby hamster | 133 | hampton hamster | 38 |
black bear hamster | 127 | russian hamster | 36 |
hamster name | 121 | hamster wet tail | 35 |
pet hamster | 108 | caring for hamster | 33 |
information on hamster | 100 | golden hamster | 33 |
siberian hamster | 81 | singing hamster | 32 |
hamster health | 75 | taking care of hamster | 32 |
hamster for sale | 71 | hamster hideout | 32 |
hamster supply | 65 | hamster sick | 31 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "hamster"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | lloj brejtësi. (various references) | |
Arabic | الهمستر حيوان قارض. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | хомяк, хамстер. (various references) | |
Chinese | 仓鼠. (various references) | |
Czech | křeèek (hoarder). (various references) | |
Danish | hamster (European hamster). (various references) | |
Dutch | hamster (European hamster), korenwolf (European hamster), Europese hamster (European hamster). (various references) | |
Farsi | موش بزرگ(ج.ش.). (various references) | |
Finnish | hamsteri (European hamster). (various references) | |
French | hamster (European hamster). (various references) | |
German | hamster (European hamster). (various references) | |
Greek | κρίκητος (European hamster). (various references) | |
Hungarian | hörcsög (gopher). (various references) | |
Italian | criceto (European hamster). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | ハトロン紙 (agreed, Armageddon, falling rapidly in big drops, good, haddock, hafnium, halation, halberd, Halley, ham, ham and eggs, ham and salad, Hamilton, Hamming, Hammond organ, Hanoi, happening, Harrier, Harry, hashed meat with rice, heart going pit-a-pat, honey, honeymoon, Honeywell, Hubbard, hum, humming, hurricane, kraft paper, resin, rosefish, splendid, style of clothing popular in the late 1970s and resembling a Catholic school uniform, to be in harmony, to harmonize, twitterpating, wonderful). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ハムスター . (various references) | |
Korean | 햄스터. (various references) | |
Manx | roddan puissagh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | amsterhay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | hamster europeu (European hamster), hamster (European hamster), marmota-da-alemanha, criceto. (various references) | |
Romanian | hârciog. (various references) | |
Russian | хомяк. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | hrčak. (various references) | |
Spanish | hámster (European hamster). (various references) | |
Swedish | hamster (European hamster). (various references) | |
Turkish | hamster, cırlak sıçan. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | хом'як. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Cricetus cricetus. (various references) |
| Middle High German | 1100-1500 | hamastra. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "hamster": hamsters. (additional references) | |
| |
"Hamster" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: amster, Camster, Dhimiter, Hambstrg, hampster, Hamsey, hamsted, Hamsten, hamstern, Hansgert, haster, Heemskerk, Hengstler, shamateur, Shamser, Shankster, Whimster. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "hamster" (pronounced ha"mster) |
| 4 | -m s t er | seamster, teamster. |
| 3 | -s t er | dumpster, duster, Easter, adjuster, administer, alabaster, ancestor, aster, banister, bannister, barrister, blaster, blister, blockbuster, bluster, bolster, booster, broadcaster, burgomaster, Buster, canister, cannister, caster, Castor, cloister, cluster, coaster, concertmaster, coster, Dempster, Dexter, digester, disaster, ester, faster, Feaster, fester, filibuster, fluster, forecaster, Forester, Foster, gangbuster, gangster, Gaster, grandmaster, harvester, headmaster, heister, holster, huckster, imposter, impostor, investor, jester, juster, keister, kiester, lackluster, laster, Leister, Lister, lobster, Luster, lustre, master, minister, Minster, Mister, mobster, molester, monster, muenster, Munster, muster, nester, Nestor, newscaster, oldster, oleaster, ouster, oyster, paster, pastor, pester, pilaster, plaster, pollster, polyester, poster, postmaster, prankster, protester, quartermaster, raster, register, requester, rester, ringmaster, roadster, roaster, roister, rooster, roster, royster, schoolmaster, scoutmaster, semester, sequester, shyster, sinister, sister, spinster, sportscaster, stepsister, taskmaster, taster, tester, thruster, tipster, toaster, toastmaster, transistor, trickster, trimester, twister, Ulster, upholster, waster, Webster, Wester, youngster, zoster. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-h-m-r-s-t" | |
-1 letter: armets, earths, harems, haters, hearts, masher, master, maters, matres, ramets, shmear, stream, tamers, tharms, therms. | |
-2 letters: armet, aster, earth, haems, haets, hames, harem, hares, harms, harts, haste, hater, hates, hears, heart, heats, herma, herms, mares, marse, marsh, marts, maser, mater, mates, maths, meats, meths, ramet, rates, rathe, reams, rheas, satem, shame, share. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-h-m-r-s-t" | |
+1 letter: hamsters, matchers, teraohms, thermals, trashmen. | |
+2 letters: atheromas, chromates, erythemas, hatmakers, heartsome, marshiest, merchants, metaphors, mishanter, rematches, stomacher. | |
+3 letters: aftermaths, amateurish, atmosphere, bushmaster, earthworms, frameshift, hammertoes, harassment, hardiments, harvestman, harvestmen, headmaster, headstream, heartworms, hectograms, hematurias, hermitages, hexameters, isothermal, mastership, mesothorax, metaphrase, mishanters, mythmakers, nightmares, outmarches, parchments, ravishment, rheumatics, rheumatism, shipmaster, shirtmaker, shmaltzier, stomachers, stramashes, thermostat, thimerosal. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
