The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal and Andorra) and southwestern France. It is the only living species in Oryctolagus, a genus of lagomorphs. The average adult European rabbit is smaller than the European hare, though size and weight vary with habitat and diet. Due to the European rabbit's history of domestication, selective breeding, and introduction to non-native habitats, wild and domesticated European rabbits across the world can vary widely in size, shape, and color.

European rabbits prefer grassland habitats and are herbivorous, mainly feeding on grasses and leaves, though they may supplement their diet with berries, tree bark, and field crops such as maize. They are prey to a variety of predators, including birds of prey, mustelids, cats, and canids. The European rabbit's main defense against predators is to run and hide, using vegetation and its own burrows for cover. It is well known for digging networks of burrows, called warrens, where it spends most of its time when not feeding. The European rabbit lives in social groups centered around territorial females. European rabbits in an established social group will rarely stray far from their warren, with female rabbits leaving the warren mainly to establish nests where they will raise their young. Unlike hares, rabbits are born blind and helpless, requiring maternal care until they leave the nest.

The European rabbit has had major agricultural and biological impacts as an invasive species, and has been hunted and raised as a food source since medieval times. It is the only domesticated species of rabbit, and all known breeds of rabbit are its descendants. It has often been introduced to exotic locations as a food source or for sport hunting. Starting from the first century BCE, it has been introduced to at least 800 islands and every continent with the exception of Antarctica, often with devastating effects on local biodiversity due to a lack of predators. However, the species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as it has faced population declines in its native range due to overhunting, habitat destruction, and diseases such as myxomatosis and rabbit hemorrhagic disease. This decline has directly led to negative impacts on populations of the Iberian lynx and Spanish imperial eagle, predators that rely intensely on the rabbit as food.

Because of its non-British origin, the species does not have native names in English or Celtic, with the usual terms "coney" and "rabbit" being foreign loanwords. "Rabbit" is also pronounced as rabbidge, rabbert (North Devon) and rappit (Cheshire and Lancashire). More archaic spellings include rabbette (15th–16th centuries), rabet (15th–17th centuries), rabbet (16th-18th centuries), rabatte (16th century), rabytt (17th century) and rabit (18th century). The root word is the Walloon rabett, which was once commonly used in Liège. Rabett itself is derived from the Middle Dutch robbe, with the addition of the suffix -ett.

The term "cony" or "coney" predates "rabbit", and first occurred during the 13th century to refer to the animal's pelt. Later, "cony" referred to the adult animal, while "rabbit" referred to the young. The root of "cony" is the old French connil or counil, of which the Norman was conin, plural coniz or conis. Connil comes from the Latin cuniculus. Its forerunner is the Greek κόνικλος (kóniklos). The origin of κόνικλος itself is unclear: Ælian, who lived during the third century, linked the word to Celtiberian and later authors relate it to its Basque name unchi; Varo and Pliny connected it to cuneus, which refers to a wedge, thus making reference to the animal's digging ability. Later study of the etymology of cuniculus has attested to its origin as a diminutive or adjectival form of the root word for "dog" (cun–) in Celtiberian.

The species' dwelling place is termed a warren or cony-garth. "Warren" comes from the Old English wareine, itself derived from the Old French warenne, varenne, or garenne. The root word is the Low Latin warenna, which originally signified a preserve in general, only to be later used to refer specifically to an enclosure set apart for rabbits and hares. "Cony-garth" derives from the Middle English conygerthe, which may be a compound of connynge+erthe (cony+earth). The term stems from the Old French conniniere or coninyere, and later conilliere. The root word is the Low Latin cunicularia, the feminine form of the adjective cunicularius, which pertains to the rabbit (as in the specific name, cuniculus). The generic name, Oryctolagus, derives from Ancient Greek: ὀρυκτός (oryktos, "burrowing") and λαγώς (lagōs, "hare"), according to Swedish zoologist Wilhelm Lilljeborg, who erected the genus in 1874.

Originally assigned to the genus Lepus by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the European rabbit was consigned to its own genus, Oryctolagus, in 1874 by Swedish zoologist Wilhelm Lilljeborg on account of its burrowing habits, the blind and helpless young it produces, and its narrow nasal opening, all of which were characteristics not seen in hares. It is superficially similar to the North American cottontails (Sylvilagus) in that they are altricial, being born blind and naked, have white flesh, and little sexual dimorphism. However, they differ in skull characteristics, and cottontails do not construct their own burrows as the European rabbit does. Molecular studies confirm that the resemblance between the two is due to convergent evolution, and that the European rabbit's closest relatives are the hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), the riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis), and the Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi).

The following cladogram is based on work done by Matthee and colleagues in 2004 and clarifications from Abrantes and colleagues in 2011, and is based on nuclear and mitochondrial gene analysis: