n. [ F. surikate, from the native name in South Africa. ] (Zool.) A South African mongooselike viverrine (Suricata suricatta or Suricata tetradactyla) having a lemurlike face and only four toes; called also mierkat, yellow mongoose and zenick. [ Also spelled surikate. ] The animal called zenick seems also to be related to or identical to the mierkat, but no reference can be found on the internet.
Syn. -- meerkat. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]