different between giraffe vs capybara

English

Etymology

From French giraffe (now girafe), from Arabic ????????? (zar?fa, “giraffe”); ultimately from Persian ?????????? (zurn?p?), a compound of ??????? (zurn?, “flute”) and ???? (p?, “leg”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??????f/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d?????æf/
• Rhymes: -??f

Noun

giraffe (plural giraffes or giraffe)

1. A ruminant, of the genus Giraffa, of the African savannah with long legs and highly elongated neck, which make it the tallest living animal; yellow fur patterned with dark spots, often in the form of a network; and two or more short, skin-covered horns, so-called; strictly speaking the horn-like projections are ossicones.
2. A giraffe unicycle.
3. (Cockney rhyming slang) A laugh.

   Are you having a giraffe?!

Synonyms

• camelopard
• (a laugh) bubble bath, bubble

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• giraffe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Giraffa on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Giraffa on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• riffage

Dutch

Etymology

Possibly via German Giraffe, from Italian giraffa, from Arabic ????????? (zar?fa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?i?r?f/
• Hyphenation: gi?raf?fe
• Rhymes: -?f

Noun

giraffe f (plural giraffen or giraffes, diminutive giraffetje n or girafje n)

1. Alternative spelling of giraf.

Italian

Noun

giraffe f

1. plural of giraffa

English

Alternative forms

• capibara (dated)

Etymology

From Spanish capibara, from Portuguese capivara, from Old Tupi kapi'iûara, literally "grass eater".

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kap??b????/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?kæpi?b???/, /?kæpi?b???/, /?kæpi?bæ??/

Noun

capybara (plural capybaras)

1. A semi-aquatic South American rodent, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, the largest living rodent.
   • 1876, William H. G. Kingston, The Three Lieutenants, 2010, page 430,

     “Our fires burned well,” continued Tom, “and we roasted our young capybara to perfection; we only wanted salt and pepper, and an onion or two to make it delicious. […] "

   • 1914, Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, 2004, page 53,

     It was tenanted by the small caymans and by capybaras - the largest known rodent, a huge aquatic guinea-pig, the size of a small sheep.

   • 2009, The Illustrated Atlas of Wildlife, page 106,

     The largest of all the 1,729 rodent species, the semi-aquatic capybara is extremely agile in the water, using its partly webbed toes like tiny paddles. Troops containing up to 20 animals live along riverbanks where young capybaras are sometimes preyed on by caimans.

Synonyms

• carpinchoe

Derived terms

• lesser capybara (Hydrochoerus isthmius)

Translations

References