What is the origin of the word “chipmunk”?
Chipmunk (also chipmuck) is an American English word, first written chitmunk, that was borrowed from Algonquian atchitamon, meaning ‘one who descends trees headlong’. It is a species of ground squirrel and has the synonyms chipping squirrel, hackee, and striped squirrel. The first record of the word in writing is around 1841, though chitmunk was written about in 1832. (source http://dictionary.reference.com/features/spring.
