hippopotamus
hip·po·po·tamus
noun
1.
massive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around rivers of tropical Africa
Origin
From Latin and New Latin hippopotamus, from Ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos), from ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (English hippo-) + ποταμός (potamós, “river”). First attested in the 1560s. Displaced displaced English nicker (from native Old English nicor) and river horse.
Phrases
- common hippopotamus
- Hippopotamus Defence
- pygmy hippopotamus
- woolly hippopotamus
Related words
Word family
Broader terms
Parts
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.