coati

American  

[koh-ah-tee] / koʊˈɑ ti /

noun

plural

coatis

1. a diurnal omnivore related to the raccoon, having an elongated body, a long, ringed, nonprehensile tail, and a slender, flexible snout: the two genera are Nasua, found in the southwestern U.S. and southward to Uruguay, and Nasuella, the mountain coatis of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.

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coati British  

/ kəʊˈɑːtɪ, kəʊˌɑːtɪˈmʌndɪ /

noun

1. any omnivorous mammal of the genera Nasua and Nasuella, of Central and South America: family Procyonidae, order Carnivora (carnivores). They are related to but larger than the raccoons, having a long flexible snout and a brindled coat

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Etymology

Origin of coati

First recorded in 1670–80; from Portuguese, from Tupi, equivalent to cua “belt” + ti, tim “nose”

Example Sentences

The state estimates property damage from such wrecks at nearly $20 million annually, while unbroken roads also fracture habitats for monitored species of concern including the ornate box turtle, white-nosed coati and gila monster.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 23, 2023

Other newcomers include three South American coati — a mother and her two children — resembling raccoons with their long striped tails.

From New York Times • May 26, 2015

The animals were found in small cages in the garage on Wednesday after an animal control officer found a coati wandering in a neighborhood in Warren, Michigan, the zoo said.

From Reuters • Jul. 11, 2014

Hunter Siemel & friends will have a ready market in Chicago for all the jaguars, tapirs, giant armadillos, anteaters, puma, ocelots, coati, large red wolves that they can catch.

From Time Magazine Archive

A smaller dog, belonging to us, once attacked a coati, single, and got a good deal worsted, and might perhaps have been killed had we not come to his assistance.

From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry