What does rhinoceros mean?

Definitions for rhinoceros
raɪˈnɒs ər əsrhi·noc·er·os

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word rhinoceros.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. rhinoceros, rhinonoun

    massive powerful herbivorous odd-toed ungulate of southeast Asia and Africa having very thick skin and one or two horns on the snout

Wiktionary

  1. rhinocerosnoun

    Any of several large herbivorous pachyderms native to Africa and Asia of the family Rhinocerotidae, with thick, gray skin and one or two horns on their snouts.

  2. Etymology: Via, from ῥινόκερως, composed of +.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Rhinocerosnoun

    A vast beast in the East Indies armed with a horn in his front.

    Etymology: ῥῖν and ϰέϱας; rhinocerot, Fr.

    Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
    The arm’d rhinoceros, or Hyrcanian tyger;
    Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves
    Shall never tremble. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    If you draw your beast in an emblem, shew a landscape of the country natural to the beast; as to the rhinoceros an East Indian landscape, the crocodile, an Egyptian. Henry Peacham.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Rhinocerosnoun

    any pachyderm belonging to the genera Rhinoceros, Atelodus, and several allied genera of the family Rhinocerotidae, 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

  2. Etymology: [L., fr. Gr. "rinoke`rws, "rinoke`rwtos; "ri`s, "rino`s, the nose + ke`ras a horn: cf. F. rhinocros. See Horn.]

Freebase

  1. Rhinoceros

    Rhinoceros, often abbreviated as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to Southern Asia. Members of the rhinoceros family are characterized by their large size; as well as by a herbivorous diet; a thick protective skin, 1.5–5 cm thick, formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure; relatively small brains for mammals this size; and a large horn. They generally eat leafy material, although their ability to ferment food in their hindgut allows them to subsist on more fibrous plant matter, if necessary. Unlike other perissodactyls, the two African species of rhinoceros lack teeth at the front of their mouths, relying instead on their powerful premolar and molar teeth to grind up plant food. Rhinoceros are killed by humans for their horns, which are bought and sold on the black market, and which are used by some cultures for ornamental or traditional medicinal purposes. The horns are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails. Both African species and the Sumatran rhinoceros have two horns, while the Indian and Javan rhinoceros have a single horn.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Rhinoceros

    rī-nos′ėr-os, n. a genus forming a family of ungulate mammals, found in Africa and India, having a very thick skin lying in enormous folds, clumsy, and with one or two horns on the nose:—pl. Rhinoc′eroses.—adjs. Rhinocē′rial, Rhinocē′rical.—ns. Rhinoc′eros-auk, a bird belonging to the family Alcidæ; Rhinoc′eros-bee′tle, a beetle of the genus Dynastes having a large up-curved horn on the head; Rhinoc′eros-bird, a beefeater, the hornbill; Rhinoc′eros-tick, the tick which infests rhinoceroses; Rhinoc′erot (obs.), a rhinoceros.—adjs. Rhinocerot′ic; Rhinocerot′iform, shaped like a rhinoceros. [L.,—Gr. rhinokerōsrhis, rhinos, nose, keras, a horn.]

Suggested Resources

  1. rhinoceros

    Song lyrics by rhinoceros -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by rhinoceros on the Lyrics.com website.

Etymology and Origins

  1. Rhinoceros

    Greek for “nose-horned.”

Matched Categories

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How to say rhinoceros in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of rhinoceros in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of rhinoceros in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of rhinoceros in a Sentence

  1. Randolph Silliman Bourne:

    About the rhinoceros Here is an animal with a hide two feet think and no apparent interest in politics. What a waste.

  2. Alan Cooper:

    We found that the Neanderthals from Spy Cave in Belgium consumed woolly rhinoceros and European wild sheep, supplemented with wild mushrooms, those from El Sidrón Cave on the other hand showed no evidence for meat consumption... showing quite different lifestyles between the two groups.

  3. G. K. Chesterton:

    If a rhinoceros were to enter this resteraunt now, there is no denying he would have great power here. But I would be the first to rise and assure him that he had no authority whatever.

  4. Ethel Barrymore:

    For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of a Venus, the brains of a Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of a MaCaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros.

  5. The Delta statement:

    Effective immediately, Delta will officially ban shipment of all lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo trophies worldwide as freight.

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Translations for rhinoceros

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"rhinoceros." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 6 Jun 2023. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/rhinoceros>.

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