DCHP-2

chipmunk [< Algonk; cf. Ojibwa atchitamon head first, applied originally to the red squirrel from its way of descending a tree trunk] Earlier recorded forms such as chetamon, chitmunk, q.v., chipmonk, etc. indicate the influence of folk etymology in shaping the now general form. DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

• n.

  any one of several small striped rodents, resembling squirrels, of the family Sciuridae.

  See also: big chipmunk  hackee  striped squirrel