rhinoceros

Etymology

From Latin rhīnocerōs, from Ancient Greek ῥῑνόκερως (rhīnókerōs, “nose-horned”), composed of ῥῑ́ς, ῥῑνός (rhī́s, rhīnós, “nose, of (the) nose”) + κέρας (kéras, “horn”).

noun

  1. Any of several large herbivorous ungulates 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.
    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. 1658, Thomas Brown, “Of Unicorns Horn”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Or Enquiries Into Very many Received Tenents And commonly Presumed Truths. The Fourth Edition, page 203
  2. (paleontology) A member of the superfamily Rhinocerotoidea, including hornless members of the extinct genus Paraceratherium.

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