Origin: 1770–80, Americanism; < Massachusett cognate of Western Abenaki mòskwas (perh. equiv. to Proto-Algonquian *mo⋅ŝk- bobbing above the surface of the water + *-exkwe⋅ head + derivational elements, i.e., the one whose head bobs above the water)
A large aquatic rodent (Ondatra zibethica) of North America, related to the lemming and the vole and having a dense brown coat and musk glands under a broad flat tail. Also called musquash, water rat.
[muhs-kwosh] 
