1789, a corruption of Telugu pandi-kokku, literally "pig-rat." Properly the Anglo-Indian name of a large and destructive type of Indian rat; applied from 1827 to a type of insectivorous Australian marsupial somewhat resembling it.
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Definitions of bandicoot from WordNet
bandicoot (n.)
any of various agile ratlike terrestrial marsupials of Australia and adjacent islands; insectivorous and herbivorous;