different between elk vs caribou

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lk/

Etymology 1

From Middle English elk, from Old English eolc, eolh (“elk”), from Proto-Germanic *elhaz, *algiz (“elk”) (compare Low German Elk, German Elch, Norwegian elg, Swedish älg), from Proto-Indo-European *h?él?is, *h?ól?is (compare Polish ?o?, Russian ???? (los?), Vedic Sanskrit ???? (???ya, “antelope”), variant of *h?elh?én (compare German Elen, Tocharian A yäl, Tocharian B ylem (“gazelle”), Lithuanian élnis (“stag”), Armenian ????? (e?nik, “doe, hind”)), from *h?el- (“deer”).

Noun

elk (plural elk or elks)

1. Any of various large species of deer such as the red deer, moose or wapiti (see usage notes).
   1. The subspecies of the moose (Alces alces alces, alternatively named Eurasian elk to avoid confusion with the wapiti) that occurs only in Europe and Asia.
   2. (now chiefly Europe) Any moose (Alces alces), the largest member of the deer family.
   3. (Canada, US) The common wapiti (Cervus canadensis), the second largest member of the deer family, once thought to be a subspecies of red deer.

Usage notes

Elk originally referred to the moose. The wapiti was named elk by European explorers in North America, who thought it resembled the moose.

The word elk is now commonly used in the same way as the word caribou is used for the subspecies of the reindeer. The only difference here is that it refers only to a single subspecies, while caribou refers to several subspecies of the reindeer.

Synonyms

• (Cervus candensis): wapiti
• (Alces alces): moose

Derived terms

• Elk County
• Elk River
• Elkton

Descendants

• ? Korean: ?? (elkeu)

Translations

• Mon: ?????????, ?????, ??????
• Mon pali: ?????????

Etymology 2

Noun

elk (plural elks)

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of elke (the common swan (Cygnus cygnus, syn. Cygnus ferus))

References

• elk at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Kel, Lek, lek

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch elk.

Pronoun

elk

1. (rather rare, literary) everyone; everybody

Synonyms

• elkeen,* almal
• ieder; iedereen

Determiner

elk

1. (in expressions only) Alternative form of elke (“every”)

   in elk geval — “in every (i.e. any) case”

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch elc. Compare English each, West Frisian elk, from Proto-Germanic *aiwô (“ever, always”) + *ga- + Proto-Germanic *hwil?kaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lk/
• Hyphenation: elk
• Rhymes: -?lk

Determiner

elk

1. each; every

Usage notes

• The Dutch determiners elk and ieder are entirely interchangeable. They do not exhibit the slight distinction that is usually made between English each and every.

Inflection

Synonyms

• al (alle)
• ieder

Descendants

• Afrikaans: elk

Pronoun

elk

1. (chiefly in expressions) everyone; everybody

   Melk is goed voor elk.

   Milk is good for everyone.

   Elk op zijn beurt.

   One at a time. (Literally: Everybody at their turn.)

References

Anagrams

• lek

Low German

Etymology

Compare Dutch elk, English each.

Pronoun

elk

1. (in the singular) each, every
2. (in the plural) some, many

Declension

See also

• jede
• männich
• veel
• enige
• elker
• Elkeener

English

Etymology

From Canadian French caribou, from Mi'kmaq qalipu (“caribou”) (compare qalipi (“to shovel snow”)), from Proto-Algonquian *maka·lipowa (“caribou; it shovels snow”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k???bu/
• enPR: k?r'?-b?'

Noun

caribou (plural caribous or caribou)

1. Any of several North American subspecies of the reindeer, Rangifer tarandus.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• caribou on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Rangifer tarandus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• boricua

French

Etymology

Canadian French, from Mi'kmaq qalipu (“caribou”), from Proto-Algonquian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.?i.bu/

Noun

caribou m (plural caribous)

1. caribou

Descendants

• ? English: caribou
• ? Italian: caribù
• ? Irish: carabú
• ? Russian: ?????? (karibu)
• ? Spanish: caribú
  • ? Tetelcingo Nahuatl: caribú

Further reading

• “caribou” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• courbai