camelopard

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ca·mel·o·pard

(kə-mĕl′ə-pärd′)

1. A giraffe.

2. Heraldry A bearing resembling a giraffe but represented with long curved horns.

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin camēlopardus, from Latin camēlopardalis, from Greek kamēlopardalis : kamēlos, camel; see camel + pardalis, pard (so called because the giraffe has a head like a camel's and the spots of a leopard).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

camelopard

(ˈkæmɪləˌpɑːd; kəˈmɛl-)

(Animals) an obsolete word for giraffe

[C14: from Medieval Latin camēlopardus, from Greek kamēlopardalis, from kamēlos camel + pardalis leopard, because the giraffe was thought to have a head like a camel's and spots like a leopard's]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ca•mel•o•pard

(kəˈmɛl əˌpɑrd)

n. Archaic.

a giraffe.

[1350–1400; < Greek kámēlo(s) camel + pardalis pard¹]

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Noun

camelopard - tallest living quadruped; having a spotted coat and small horns and very long neck and legs; of savannahs of tropical Africa

Giraffa camelopardalis, giraffe

ruminant - any of various cud-chewing hoofed mammals having a stomach divided into four (occasionally three) compartments

genus Giraffa, Giraffa - type genus of the Giraffidae

okapi, Okapia johnstoni - similar to the giraffe but smaller with much shorter neck and stripe on the legs

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References in periodicals archive ?

For example, a giraffe is called a camelopard - a name dating back to the 14th century when they were first seen by Europeans.

Liverpool safari

In 1827, King George IV was ridiculed, riding on his new gift of a giraffe with his mistress, in The Camelopard or a New Hobby.

A history of animal attraction; JULIE CHAMBERLAIN examines a new exhibition showing how animals have been depicted by artists through the centuries

This animal, once it had made its appearance, struck wonder into the whole crowd and its form took its name from the most prominent features of its body: it was spontaneously called a "camelopard" [i.e., giraffe] by the Ethiopian audience.