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

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

It occurred to him that his experience tracking deer and bird populations might lend itself to hunting a capybara.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

They’re less trusting of humans than Miguel, which is just fine with zoo managers: That’s normal capybara behavior.

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

Like its big relation, the capybara, it always takes up its abode in the neighbourhood of water.

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

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

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

Aidar and a team of volunteers look after about 120 capybaras living along the Pinheiros River.

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

Later, in 2018, a photographer named Katsuhito Watanabe exploded in popularity outside his native Japan with his videos of capybaras in yuzu baths.

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

Where there were no ponds of sufficient size the capybaras sought refuge in flight through the tangled marsh.

From Through the Brazilian Wilderness by Theodore Roosevelt