reindeer
pronunciation
How to pronounce reindeer in British English:
UK [ˈreɪndɪə(r)]
How to pronounce reindeer in American English:
US [ˈreɪndɪr]
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- Noun:
- arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes; called reindeer in Eurasia and caribou in North America
Word Origin
- reindeer (n.)
- c. 1400, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse hreindyri "reindeer," from dyr "animal" (see deer) + hreinn, by itself the usual name for the animal, from Proto-Germanic *khrinda- (cognates: Old English hran "reindeer;" German Renn "reindeer," which was altered by folk etymology influence of rennen "to run;" Swedish ren-ko "female reindeer," with ko "cow" (n.)). Probably from PIE *krei-, from base *ker- (1) "horn, head," with derivatives referring to horned animals (both male and female reindeer have horns; those of the male are remarkable), and thus perhaps cognate with Greek krios "ram" (see kerato-). Older sources connect it to words in Lapp or Finnish. French renne, Spanish reno, Italian renna ultimately are from Germanic.
Example
- 1. Nothing grows there so people eat reindeer meat and horsemeat .
- 2. Reindeer migration across the yamal peninsula .
- 3. And 160 reindeer herders have already been evicted from their pastures .
- 4. An alaskan breakfast featuring reindeer meat and an egg nestled on a pancake .
- 5. If reindeer herding disappears , sami traditions may vanish too .