Zool. [L. viverra ferret.] † a. The ferret. Obs. b. The civet-cat (Viverra civetta), or other species of the type-genus of the civet family (Viverridæ). Also attrib.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Viverra, the Ferret, a little Creature that runs into the Burroughs of Rabbits.
1772–84. Cook’s Voy. (1790), I. 217. Or quadrupedes, there are goats, wolves, pole-cats, a spotted animal of the viverra kind, and several kinds of serpents.
1813. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Man, iii. § 3. 113. Of the Viverra family.
1815. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., ix. (1817), I. 280. Another species of Viverra (V. prehensilis) is also reputed to be an eager insect-hunter.
