tanuki

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from Japanese 狸(たぬき) (tanuki, “raccoon dog”).

1. A raccoon dog, Nyctereutes viverrinus.

   “At my onboarding, I was told that one of GitHub's employees identified as a tanuki, a Japanese raccoon dog—this was fine.”

2. A folkloric figure in the form of a tanuki, regarded as a shapeshifter and renowned for its enormous scrotum and testicles.
3. The joining of a living bonsai tree to a piece of dead wood for aesthetic effect.