fossa

Unadapted borrowing from Latin fossa (“a ditch, trench, fosse”). Doublet of fosse.

[Alt: Cryptoprocta ferox Borrowing from Malagasy fosa which likely once referred to the Malayan weasel (Mustela nudipes) prior to a semantic shift, thus cognate with Malay pusak and Tagalog pusa both meaning "cat".