Also aguti. [a. Fr. agouti, Sp. aguti, a. aguti, acuti, native Indian name.] A genus of rodents, belonging to the Cavy or Guinea-pig family; the common species (Dasyprocta agouti) is an animal of the size and appearance of a hare, common in the W. Indies and adjacent parts of S. America.
1731. Bailey, Agouty (in America) a little Beast of the shape and size of a rabbit.
1830. E. Bennett, Zool. Gard. Del., I. 295. The Long-nosed Agouti … is now almost confined to St. Lucia.
1855. Kingsley, Westw. Ho! (1861), 281. Smoking agoutis out of the hollow trees.
