köken: From Middle High German merekatze, from Old High German merikazza (11th century); equivalent to Meer (“sea”) + Katze (“cat”). So called probably because they were brought to Europe over the sea from Africa. The restriction to the specific species is obviously not original, but a fairly recent scientific use. Adelung (ca. 1780) still defines it as referring to any long-tailed monkey. Compare…
Nom vernaculaire ambigu de certaines espèces de singes à longue queue non préhensile de la famille des cercopithécidés, la plupart appartiennent au genre Cercopithecus.
a guenon, vervet, talapoin or patas; one of a number of monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus, or of the tribe Cercopithecini
çekim: çoğul meerkatten
köken: From Middle Dutch meercatte (“monkey, ape”), from Old Dutch *merikatta. Equivalent to meer + kat. Cognate with Old High German merikazza (German Meerkatze).
De groene meerkat of vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) is de meest voorkomende aap in zuidelijk Afrika.