Rat in Malayalam
മൂഷികന് (mooshikan) is the Sanskrit derived word for a rat, with the masculine ending, and it is the form you meet in fables, in the mouse that carries Ganesha and in literary prose. The long oo at the front is held. മൂഷിക (mooshika) is the same word without the masculine ending and also names an old region.
Rat, thief.
കഥയിലെ മൂഷികന് ആനയെ സഹായിച്ചു.
kadhayile mooshikan aanaye sahaayichu
The rat in the story helped the elephant.
All Malayalam words for “rat”
- മൂഷികന് (mooshikan) — Rat, thief.
- എലി (eli) — Rat, mouse.
- മൂഷിക (mooshika) — Rat, bandicoot, name of a country (Kolathunadu).
In ordinary speech Keralites use a short native word for rat and mouse that is not among these entries; mooshikan is the bookish register, and it carries a second sense of thief.
Common questions
How do you say rat in Malayalam?
In writing and in fables, മൂഷികന് (mooshikan); in everyday speech people use the shorter native word for rat, which also covers mice.
Why does mooshikan also mean thief?
The rat that gnaws through stores became a nickname for a pilferer, so the second sense is a figure of speech.