DORMOUSE, noun plural Dormice. [Latin , to sleep and mouse.] An animal of the mouse kind, which makes a bed of moss or dry leaves, in a hollow tree or under shrubs, lays in a store of nuts or other food, and on the approach of cold weather, rolls itself in a ball and sleeps the greatest part of the winter.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI