New Zealand

/ˌnu -/

UK: /ˌnjuː -/

New Zealand

English Noun

Definition

A rabbit of a breed that originated in California from rabbits imported from New Zealand.

Etymology

Partial calque of Dutch Nieuw-Zeeland (“new Zeeland”), nieuw calqued as new, Zeeland borrowed as the respelling Zealand to parallel the historical exonym, after the Dutch settlement in Batavia, which in turn had been named after the Dutch province of Zeeland, from Middle Dutch Sêelant, equivalent to zee (“sea”) + land (“land”).