Dictionary.com
definitions

eohippus

[ee-oh-hip-uh s]
noun
  1. 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.

Origin of eohippus

1875–80; < New Latin, equivalent to eo- eo- + Greek híppos horse
Also called dawn horse, hyracotherium, hyracothere.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for eohippus

Historical Examples of eohippus

  • Eohippus, the dawn horse, is the name given a skeleton found in 1880 in the lower Eocene strata in Wyoming.

  • In the Lower Eocene are found the remains of a diminutive ungulate (Eohippus), of the stature of a moderately-sized dog.

  • The oldest of these creatures that lead to the horses is called Eohippus or beginning horse.

  • He would not be more astonished than would the ancient Eohippus on meeting with a modern dray-horse.

    Theism or Atheism

    Chapman Cohen

  • Orohippus was but little larger than Eohippus, and in most other respects very similar.

    Darwinism (1889)

    Alfred Russel Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for eohippus

eohippus

noun plural -puses
  1. 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
Word Origin and History for eohippus

Eohippus

n.

oldest known genus of the horse family, 1879, from Modern Latin, from Greek eos (see eo-) + hippos "horse" (see equine).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
eohippus in Science

eohippus

[ē′ō-hĭp′əs]
  1. See hyracotherium.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.