rhinoceros
/ɹaɪˈnɒsəəs/righ-NO-sur-uhs
/ɹaɪˈnɑsɚəs/righ-NAH-sur-uhs
Meaningnose horn
Common meaning: a big horned grazing beast
- rhinthe noseLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1363 (approximate) · scan
- cera hornLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 798 · scan
- osGreek noun ending kept in a trade name
‘the nose’ + ‘a horn’ → rhinoceros
Journey through time
- rhin — Greek ῥίς, ῥινός “the nose” (path traced)
- cer — Greek κέρας, κέρατος “a horn” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as rhinoceros.
- Greekῥίς, ῥινός + κέρας, κέρατος‘the nose + a horn’
- Latinrhinoceros
- Englishrhinoceros‘a big horned grazing beast’ · today
cer also in: keratin
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek ῥίς ‘the nose’ + Greek κέρας ‘a horn’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry κέρας, p. 798 · dictionary scan
Roots
- κέρας, κέρατος Greek “a horn”
- ῥίς, ῥινός Greek “the nose”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app