capybara

American  

[kap-uh-bahr-uh] / ˌkæp əˈbɑr ə /

Or capibara

noun

• capybaras
  plural

1. a South American tailless rodent, Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris, living along the banks of rivers and lakes, having partly webbed feet: the largest living rodent.

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capybara British  

/ ˌkæpɪˈbɑːrə /

noun

1. the largest rodent: a pig-sized amphibious hystricomorph, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, resembling a guinea pig and inhabiting river banks in Central and South America: family Hydrochoeridae

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• capybaras
  plural

Etymology

Origin of capybara

1765–75; < New Latin < Portuguese capibara < Tupi

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

capybara capybaras

Two rare snow leopard cubs have been born at the park, alongside Himalayan monals and red deer, as well as Bru the capybara, Snoot the giant armadillo and Atty the sloth at Edinburgh Zoo.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Moores has taken his drones out as many as 30 times, mostly at night and in the early morning, when thermal imaging works better—and the capybara, a crepuscular species, is most active.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Older residents and long-serving zoo staff remember another capybara that evaded capture for more than two months along the same stretch of river.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Café do Capa sells capybara-shaped fried foods, capybara-themed cupcakes, capybara gifts.

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

In like manner, in the Pampas of South America the skeletons of Megatherium, Megalonyx, Glyptodon, Mylodon, Toxodon, Macrauchenia, and other extinct forms, are analogous to the living sloth, armadillo, cavy, capybara, and llama.

From The Student's Elements of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell

On social media, people have gotten even more creative, photoshopping capybaras into Southampton destinations like pubs, shopping malls and the local soccer club’s stadium.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

It can kill capybaras too, though many survive it and develop immunity.

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

Biologists test the capybaras weekly to confirm they haven’t caught Brazilian spotted fever—a tick-borne disease often fatal to humans.

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

Sometimes, though, capybaras need more help than they can get from these drop-in visits—a fact that, along with the species’ rising popularity, has ushered some capybaras of Brazil into a new kind of lifestyle entirely.

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

Sometimes a herd of capybaras, resting on the water’s edge, are startled at our approach.

From The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America by William Henry Giles Kingston