The word 'woodchuck' originally came from Amerindian as 'wuchak'

'Woodchuck' is a word borrowed from Amerindian 'wuchak'. The word entered the English language some time around 1674.

woodchuck [noun] [1674]

A grizzled thickset marmot (Marmota monax) chiefly of Alaska, Canada, and the northeastern United States

See 'woodchuck' on the Loan Words Map

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Etymology: By folk etymology from a word of Algonquian origin; akin to Narragansett 'ockqutchaun' woodchuck

See more loan words from 1600s.