means A small, long-eared, fast-breeding herbivorous mammal of the family Leporidae, known for hopping, burrowing, and twitching its nose.

from A bit of a linguistic mystery. The word 'rabbit' surfaced in late Middle English, likely borrowed from Old French or a Walloon dialect — compare French 'rabotte' for a young rabbit — and originally meant the kit, not the adult, which English called a 'coney' (from Latin 'cuniculus'). Over time 'rabbit' bred its way to dominance and 'coney' faded, partly because 'coney' had drifted into rhyming with a rude word. The deeper root of that French term is uncertain, so beyond the borrowing the trail goes fittingly underground.