rhinoceros
pronunciation
How to pronounce rhinoceros in British English:
UK [raɪˈnɒsərəs]
How to pronounce rhinoceros in American English:
US [raɪˈnɑːsərəs]
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- Noun:
- massive powerful herbivorous odd-toed ungulate of southeast Asia and Africa having very thick skin and one or two horns on the snout
Word Origin
- rhinoceros
- rhinoceros: [13] Rhinoceros means literally ‘nose-horn’. The term was coined in Greek from rhīno-, the stem form of rhīs ‘nose’, and kéras ‘horn’ (a distant relative of English horn). Greek rhīnókerōs reached English via Latin rhīnocerōs. The abbreviated form rhino is first recorded in the 1880s.=> antirrhinum, horn, keratin
- rhinoceros (n.)
- c. 1300, from Latin rhinoceros, from Greek rhinokeros, literally "nose-horned," from rhinos "nose" (a word of unknown origin) + keras "horn" (see kerato-). Related: Rhinocerotic.What is the plural of rhinoceros? ... Well, Liddell and Scott seem to authorize 'rhinocerotes,' which is pedantic, but 'rhinoceroses' is not euphonious. [Sir Charles Eliot, "The East Africa Protectorate," 1905]
Example
- 1. New security companies are being started to fight an increase in rhinoceros poaching .
- 2. With rhinoceros horn worth more than gold , the animals are the target of poachers .
- 3. He doubts that ips cells will save many threatened species , particularly those already on the brink of extinction like the northern white rhinoceros .
- 4. Vietnam confirmed that the last rhinoceros in the country was killed earlier this year , most likely by poachers .
- 5. A baby black rhinoceros stands in front of its mother in an enclosure at tokyo 's ueno zoo in june 2009 .