English Reference

Word

norway

Phoneticsnor·way

/ˈnɔɹˌweɪ/

Definitions

01the country

A1

n. a country in Northern Europe, part of Scandinavia.

n. a Nordic country in Northern Europe, officially the Kingdom of Norway, bordering Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

“Many people visit Norway in the winter to see the Northern Lights.”

“Norway is frequently cited in economic studies for its successful management of natural resources and its high standard of living.”

02a type of rat

C2 · Science

n. a common type of brown rat found in many parts of the world.

n. a common name for the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), often used as an ellipsis for 'Norway rat'.

“The Norway rat is known for being very good at surviving in cities.”

“Researchers observed that the Norway rat population in the urban sewers had developed a significant resistance to standard rodenticides.”

Technical

Synonyms

brown ratcommon rat

Etymology

From Middle English Norwey, Norweye, Northwey, Norweȝe, Norewæiȝ, Norwæge, from Old English Norþweġ, a calque of Old Norse Norðvegr (“north way”), from norðr (“north”) + vegr (“way”), contrasted with suðrvegr (“south way”), i.e. Germany, and austrvegr (“east way”), the Baltic lands. Norwegian (1607) is from Medieval Latin Norvegia, with the -w- from Norway. Equivalent to North + way.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Common
Updated

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