noun, masculine/e.ʁi.sɔ̃/plural: hérissons
hedgehog
Related: hérisson commun, hérisson de mer, hérisson d'Europe
Inherited from Old French heriçun, heriçon, from a hypothetical Old French *eriz, from Latin erīcius (“hedgehog”), with the suffix -on added later; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰḗr. Another possibility may be a Vulgar Latin root *ērīcio, ērīciōnem, but this would have seemingly produced *erçon in Old French. Compare, however, Catalan eriçó and Romansh erizun. See also oursin.