hippopotamus
Americannoun
noun
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a very large massive gregarious artiodactyl mammal, Hippopotamus amphibius, living in or around the rivers of tropical Africa: family Hippopotamidae. It has short legs and a thick skin sparsely covered with hair
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a related but smaller animal, Choeropsis liberiensis
Usage
Plural word for hippopotamus The plural form of hippopotamus can be either hippopotamuses or hippopotami. Hippopotamuses is more widely used. The plurals of several other singular words ending in -us are also formed this way, such as virus/viruses, sinus/sinuses, and walrus/walruses. Irregular plurals that are formed like hippopotami, such as cactus/cacti and fungus/fungi, derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin. However, the standard English plural -es ending is often also acceptable for these terms, as in cactuses.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hippopotamus
1555–65; < Latin < Greek hippopótamos, earlier híppos potámios literally, riverine horse (term used by Herodotus in his account of the Egyptian hippopotamus); compare Middle English ypotame, ypotamos, ypotanus < Old French ypotame < Medieval Latin ypotamus
Explanation
A hippopotamus is a huge African mammal that spends time in the water and on land. These herbivores are so enormous that one hippopotamus can eat two pounds of grass in a single feeding. Although they're plant-eaters, hippopotamuses are powerfully strong and fiercely protective. Experts consider them to be unpredictable as well, and if you happen to be in sub-saharan Africa, it's smart to keep your distance! Hippopotamus is from the Greek ho hippos potamios, "the horse of the river," and its roots, hippos, "horse," and potamos, "rushing water."
Vocabulary lists containing hippopotamus
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Small digs have since uncovered "extremely rare" evidence of early humans and animals - including the bones of a hippopotamus which roamed Wales 120,000 years ago.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Aesthetes had been howling about the Freedom 250 set, a soaring, 92-foot tall structure which resembled one of those arcade machine claws in which you try and fail to grab a stuffed hippopotamus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Researchers examined numerous hippopotamus fossils using both genetic and radiocarbon dating methods.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2025
Yang has been known to portray the iceberg that sank the Titanic or the adorable Thai pygmy hippopotamus Moo Deng.
From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2024
He wore a denture, made from one of his own teeth, a cow’s tooth, and hippopotamus ivory; metal springs held the denture in his mouth.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Their list mainly included fish, but also mammals like beavers, river dolphins and hippopotami, as well as coldblooded creatures like crocodiles, giant salamanders and alligator snapping turtles.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2020
The idea of a family of hippopotami walking upright on two legs?
From The Guardian ● Apr. 13, 2019
Sometimes he dances, rather in the manner of the tutu-clad hippopotami in Walt Disney’s “Fantasia.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2016
"But such pedantry is frowned upon in common usage, so we are stuck with the equally accepted hippopotamuses and hippopotami."
From The Guardian ● Jun. 11, 2010
Did monstrous hippopotami come sidling towards you in the mist?
From Oscar Wilde by Ingleby, Leonard Cresswell
The animals said to have been featured in various Roman spectacles include hippopotamuses, elephants, rhinoceroses, bears, ostriches and big cats like lions and tigers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2024
They confront many obstacles and dangers on their trek, including rivers that hide dangerous hippopotamuses and crocodiles, not to mention numerous predators they face on land.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
In addition to India and Mexico, facilities in Ecuador, Botswana, and the Philippines have expressed interest in acquiring some Colombian hippopotamuses.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
The fossils date from early in the Eocene epoch, when Earth was home to ancient relatives of many modern mammals, including tapirs, hippopotamuses and humans.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 25, 2023
I’m going to be a veterinarian and operate on the biggest animals on the planet—elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, hippopotamuses.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
