caiman

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   any crocodilian of the subfamily Caimaninae, native to Central and South America and closely related to alligators

   A caiman slipped from the muddy bank into the river.

Borrowed through Spanish caimán or Portuguese caimão from Kari'na acayouman, the Indigenous Caribbean name for the reptile. The variant spelling cayman survives in English and in the name of the Cayman Islands.

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