Adjacent Words

Rhinoceros definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RHINOC'EROS, n. [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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: massive powerful herbivorous odd-toed ungulate of southeast Asia and Africa having very thick skin and one or two horns on the snout [syn: rhinoceros, rhino]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -noceroses; also -noceros or rhinoceri) Etymology: Middle English rinoceros, from Anglo-French, from Latin rhinocerot-, rhinoceros, from Greek rhinoker?t-, rhinoker?s, from rhin- + keras horn — more at horn Date: 14th century any of a family (Rhinocerotidae) of large heavyset herbivorous perissodactyl mammals of Africa and Asia that have one or two upright keratinous horns on the snout and thick gray to brown skin with little hair

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. same or rhinoceroses) any of various large thick-skinned plant-eating ungulates of the family Rhinocerotidae of Africa and S. Asia, with one horn or in some cases two horns on the nose and plated or folded skin. Phrases and idioms: rhinoceros bird = ox-pecker. rhinoceros horn a mass of keratinized fibres, reputed to have medicinal or aphrodisiac powers. Derivatives: rhinocerotic adj. Etymology: ME f. L f. Gk rhinokeros (as RHINO-, keras horn)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rhinoceros Rhi*noc"e*ros, n. [L., fr. Gr. ???, ???; ???. ???, the nose + ??? a horn: cf. F. rhinoc['e]ros. See Horn.] (Zo["o]l.) Any pachyderm belonging to the genera Rhinoceros, Atelodus, and several allied genera of the family Rhinocerotid[ae], 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. Note: The Indian, or white, and the Javan rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros Indicus and R. 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 (Zo["o]l.), an auk of the North Pacific (Cerorhina monocrata) which has a deciduous horn on top of the bill. Rhinoceros beetle (Zo["o]l.), a very large beetle of the genus Dynastes, having a horn on the head. Rhinoceros bird. (Zo["o]l.) (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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(rhinoceroses) A rhinoceros is a large Asian or African animal with thick grey skin and a horn, or two horns, on its nose. N-COUNT

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ri-nos'-er-os: This word is found in the King James Version margin to Isa 34:7 ("rhinocerots") for re'emim, the King James Version "unicorns," the Revised Version (British and American) "wild-oxen." The word is quite inappropriate to the passage, which refers to the land of Edom. The one-horned rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis, is confined to India. Other rhinoceroses are found in India and in equatorial Africa, but it is hardly to be presumed that these animals were meant by the Hebrew writers.

See UNICORN.