eohippus

[ ee-oh-hip-uh s ]
/ ˌi oʊˈhɪp əs /

noun

the earliest known horse, a member of the extinct genus Hyracotherium (Eohippus), from the early Eocene Epoch of the Northern Hemisphere; a terrier-sized herbivore having four hoofed toes on each forefoot and three on each hind foot, and low-crowned teeth.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT
Also called dawn horse, hyracotherium, hyracothere.

Origin of eohippus

1875–80; < New Latin, equivalent to eo- eo- + Greek híppos horse

Words nearby eohippus

eod, eoe, eof, eog, eogene, eohippus, eolian, eolic, eolipile, eolith, eolithic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for eohippus

British Dictionary definitions for eohippus

eohippus
/ (ˌiːəʊˈhɪpəs) /

noun plural -puses

the earliest horse: an extinct Eocene dog-sized animal of the genus with four-toed forelegs, three-toed hindlegs, and teeth specialized for browsing

Word Origin for eohippus

C19: New Latin, from eo- + Greek hippos horse
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for eohippus

eohippus
[ ē′ō-hĭp′əs ]

See hyracotherium.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.