[a. Du. aard-wolf, applied to this animal in S. Africa, f. aarde earth + WOLF.] A South-African carnivorous quadruped (Proteles Lalandii St. Hil.), of the size of a fox, occupying an intermediate position between the dogs, hyenas, and civets.
1833. Penny Cycl., I. 4. The genus Proteles contains but a single species, the Aard-wolf or earth-wolf, so called by the European colonists in the neighbourhood of Algoa Bay in South Africa.
1847. Carpenter, Zool., 198. The Aard-wolf (earth-wolf) is evidently the connecting link between the Hyænas and the Civets.
