Is the English "guinea pig" a pig from Guinea, and the German "Meerschweinchen" a piggy from the sea?, or two old problems revisited

Abstract

The old problem of the origins of the English name guinea pig is discussed here in the context of its equivalents in some other European languages (one of them being German Meerschweinchen). Some new suggestions concerning both components of the English name and the original meaning of the German designation are made