Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Rhinoceros

Rhi-noc′e-ros

(rī̍-nŏs′ē̍-rŏs)
,
Noun.
[L., fr. Gr.
ῥινοκέρως
,
ῥινοκέρωτος
;
ῥίς
,
ῥινός
, the nose +
κέρασ
a horn: cf. F.
rhinocéros
. See
Horn
.]
(Zool.)
Any pachyderm belonging to the genera
Rhinoceros
,
Atelodus
, and several allied genera of the family
Rhinocerotidae
, of which several living, and many extinct, species are known. They are large and powerful, and usually have either one or two stout conical median horns on the snout.
☞ The Indian, or white, and the Javan rhinoceroses (
Rhinoceros Indicus
and
Rhinoceros Sondaicus
) have incisor and canine teeth, but only one horn, and the very thick skin forms shieldlike folds. The two or three African species belong to
Atelodus
, and have two horns, but lack the dermal folds, and the incisor and canine teeth. The two Malay, or East Indian, two-horned species belong to
Ceratohinus
, in which incisor and canine teeth are present. See
Borele
, and
Keitloa
.
Rhinoceros auk
(Zool.)
,
an auk of the North Pacific (
Cerorhina monocrata
) which has a deciduous horn on top of the bill.
Rhinoceros beetle
(Zool.)
,
a very large beetle of the genus
Dynastes
, having a horn on the head.
Rhinoceros bird
.
(Zool.)
(a)
A large hornbill (
Buceros rhinoceros
), native of the East Indies. It has a large hollow hornlike process on the bill. Called also
rhinoceros hornbill
. See
Hornbill
.
(b)
An African beefeater (
Buphaga Africana
). It alights on the back of the rhinoceros in search of parasitic insects.

Webster 1828 Edition


Rhinoceros

RHINOC'EROS

,
Noun.
[L. rhinoceros; Gr. nose-horn.]
A genus of quadrupeds of two species, one of which, the unicorn, as a single horn growing almost erect from the nose. This animal when full grown, is said to be 12 feet in length. There is another species with two horns, the bicornis. They are natives of Asia and Africa.

Definition 2024


rhinoceros

rhinoceros

See also: rhinocéros

English

A rhinoceros.

Noun

rhinoceros (plural rhinoceros or rhinoceroses or (nonstandard) rhinoceri or (archaic) rhinocerotes)

  1. Any of several large herbivorous pachyderms native to Africa and Asia of the five extant species in the three extant genera in the family Rhinocerotidae, with thick, gray skin and one or two horns on their snouts.
    • 1658, Brown, Thomas, “Of Unicorns Horn”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Or Enquiries Into Very many Received Tenents And commonly Presumed Truths. The Fourth Edition, page 203:
      Herein therefore to draw up our determinations beside the several pieces of Scripture mentioning this Animal (which some may well contend to be only meant of the Rhinoceros) we are so far from denying there is any Unicorn at all, that we affirme there are many kinds thereof. In the number of Quadrapedes we will concede no less then five; that is the Indian Oxe, Indian Ass, Rhinoceros, the Oryx, and that which is more eminently termed Monoceros, or Unicornis.

Hyponyms

Translations

See also


Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ῥινόκερως (rhinókerōs)

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /riːˈno.ke.roːs/, [riːˈnɔ.kɛ.roːs]

Noun

rhīnocerōs m (genitive rhīnocerōtis); third declension

  1. rhinoceros
  2. vessel made of a rhinoceros's horn
  3. nickname for someone with a long nose

Inflection

Third declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative rhīnocerōs rhīnocerōtēs
genitive rhīnocerōtis rhīnocerōtum
dative rhīnocerōtī rhīnocerōtibus
accusative rhīnocerōta
rhīnocerōtem
rhīnocerōtas
rhīnocerōtēs
ablative rhīnocerōte rhīnocerōtibus
vocative rhīnocerōs rhīnocerōtēs

References