kinkajou

[ king-kuh-joo ]

/ ˈkɪŋ kəˌdʒu /

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noun

a small, brownish, arboreal mammal, Potos flavus, of Central and South American rainforests, having a prehensile tail and extrudable tongue, related to raccoons and coatis: Although kinkajous are sometimes mistaken for similarly featured ferrets, they are not related.

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Also called honey bear .

Origin of kinkajou

First recorded in 1790–1800; from French: literally, “wolverine” (misapplied by Buffon to Potos flavus), earlier Canadian French quincajou, perhaps a conflation of carcajou with Ojibwe kwi˙nkwaʔa˙ke˙ a cognate word; cf. carcajou

Words nearby kinkajou

kinin, kink, Kinkaid, Kinkaid Act, Kinkaider, kinkajou, kinkeeping, kinkle, kinky, Kinnell, kinnikinnick

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use kinkajou in a sentence

That explains the popularity of exotics like the kinkajou, which looks like a furry human baby, even though it’s closely related to raccoons than to primates.
Can I have a pet fox?|empire|July 1, 2021|Popular-Science
They much resemble the kinkajou in external appearance, but the skull and teeth are more like those of Procyon and Nasua.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4|Various
It is also known as the aswail and the honey-bear, the last name being also given to the Malay bear and the kinkajou.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 4|Various
The Kinkajou (Cercoleptes caudivolvulus) of Demerara belongs to this family.
Natural History in Anecdote|Various

This disposition of the generative parts is still further modified in a few animals, such as the Rat and the Kinkajou.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard

British Dictionary definitions for kinkajou

kinkajou

/ (ˈkɪŋkəˌdʒuː) /

noun

Also called: honey bear, potto an arboreal fruit-eating mammal, Potos flavus, of Central and South America, with a long prehensile tail: family Procyonidae (raccoons) order Carnivora (carnivores)

Word Origin for kinkajou

C18: from French quincajou, from Algonquian; related to Ojibwa gwĭngwâage wolverine

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