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okapi

[ oh-kah-pee ]
/ oʊˈkɑ pi /
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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.
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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

Words nearby okapi

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

How to use okapi in a sentence

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
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