okapi

American  

[oh-kah-pee] / oʊˈkɑ pi /

noun

plural

okapis,

plural

okapi

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

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okapi British  

/ əʊˈkɑːpɪ /

noun

1. 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

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Etymology

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

Example Sentences

The "incredibly special" birth of an okapi will help to reveal "one of the least known and understood species on the planet", a keeper has said.

From BBC • Jul. 6, 2023

The okapi is the closest living relative of which African animal?

From Slate • Jun. 16, 2023

Rewind to 11.5 million years ago, when the common ancestors of the modern giraffe and its closest evolutionary cousin, the okapi, roamed what is now Africa.

From Scientific American • Feb. 19, 2023

She says only about 20 to 25 other U.S. zoos exhibit okapi.

From Washington Times • Jun. 4, 2017

And there was the patter of okapi feet and the murmur of a fresh jungle rain, like other hoofs, falling upon the summer-starched grass.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury