okapi

[ oh-kah-pee ]

/ oʊˈkɑ pi /

noun, plural o·ka·pis, (especially collectively) o·ka·pi.

an African mammal, Okapia johnstoni, closely related to and resembling the giraffe, but smaller and with a much shorter neck.

Nearby words

ojt, ok, oka, okanagan, okanagan lake, okapi, okavango, okay, okayama, okazaki, oke

Origin of okapi

1900; < Bambuba (Mvu’ba), a Central Sudanic language of the NE Democratic Republic of the Congo (or < a related Pygmy dial.), according to English Africanist Harry Johnston (1858–1927), author of the first zoological descriptions of the animal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for okapi

I am bitterly sorry and disappointed to be obliged to say it, but I think there can be no doubt that we have lost that okapi.
With Airship and Submarine|Harry Collingwood
The Okapi lives in pairs in the deepest recesses of the forest.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard
But, to their keen disappointment, no okapi made its appearance at the drinking-place that night.
With Airship and Submarine|Harry Collingwood
There were hunters from the forests of far-off Bongindanga where the okapi roams.
Bones|Edgar Wallace

This creature, of which the native name is "Okapi," is proposed to be called Ocapia johnstoni.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard

British Dictionary definitions for okapi

okapi

/ (əʊˈkɑːpɪ) /

noun plural -pis or -pi

a ruminant mammal, Okapia johnstoni, of the forests of central Africa, having a reddish-brown coat with horizontal white stripes on the legs and small horns: family Giraffidae

Word Origin for okapi

C20: from a Central African word

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 okapi

okapi

short-necked giraffe of central Africa, 1900, from the animal's name in Mbuba (Congo). Reported by English explorer Sir Harry Johnston (1858-1927).