hippopotamus

[hip-uh-pot-uh-muhs]

noun

plural

hippopotamuses, hippopotami 

1. a large herbivorous mammal, Hippopotamus amphibius, having a thick hairless body, short legs, and a large head and muzzle, found in and near the rivers, lakes, etc., of Africa, and able to remain under water for a considerable time.

hippopotamus

/ ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəməs /

noun

1. 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

2. a related but smaller animal, Choeropsis liberiensis

Other Word Forms

• hippopotamic adjective
• hippopotamian adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hippopotamus¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of hippopotamus¹

C16: from Latin, from Greek hippopotamos river horse, from hippos horse + potamos river

When To Use

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.