hippopotamus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)

   These were the first hippopotami that we had ever seen, and, to judge by their insatiable curiosity, I should judge that we were the first white men that they had ever seen.

2. 2
   noun

   massive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around rivers of tropical Africa

3. 3
   noun

   A semi-aquatic, herbivorous, African hoofed mammal of the family Hippopotamidae.

From Latin and New Latin hippopotamus, from Ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos), from ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (English hippo-) + ποταμός (potamós, “river”). Displaced nicker, from Old English nicor.

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