camelopard

[kuh-mel-uh-pahrd]

noun

Archaic.

1. a giraffe.

camelopard

/ kəˈmɛl-, ˈkæmɪləˌpɑːd /

noun

1. an obsolete word for giraffe

Word History and Origins

Origin of camelopard¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin camēlopardus, for Latin camēlopardālis < Greek kamēlopárdalis giraffe, equivalent to kámēlo ( s ) camel + pardalis pard ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of camelopard¹

C14: from Medieval Latin camēlopardus, from Greek kamēlopardalis, from kamēlos _camel + pardalis _leopard , because the giraffe was thought to have a head like a camel's and spots like a leopard's

Example Sentences

Not until the seventeenth century did the English, who fixated on the giraffe’s camel-ish shape and leopard-ish coloring, stop calling it a camelopard.

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One of the most attractive scenes for the Chinamen was a show of models of a great variety of wild animals, comprising almost everything, from a mouse to a camelopard.

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The classic term “camelopard,” probably introduced when these animals were brought from North Africa to the Roman amphitheatre, has fallen into complete disuse.

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As well try to turn camelopards into crocodiles or pythons into hippos, as convert Africans into Europeans.

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They are called “Camel-thorns,” for the reason that the camelopard was fond of browsing upon their foliage.

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