pachyderm

American  

[pak-i-durm] / ˈpæk ɪˌdɜrm /

noun

1. any of the thick-skinned, nonruminant ungulates, as elephants, hippopotamuses, and rhinoceroses.

2. an elephant.

3. a person who is not sensitive to criticism, ridicule, etc.; a thick-skinned person.

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pachyderm British  

/ ˈpækɪˌdɜːm /

noun

1. any very large thick-skinned mammal, such as an elephant, rhinoceros, or hippopotamus

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pachyderm Scientific  

/ păk′ĭ-dûrm′ /

1. Any of various large, thick-skinned mammals, such as the elephant, rhinoceros, or hippopotamus.

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Other Word Forms

• pachydermal
  adjective
• pachydermatous
  adjective
• pachydermic
  adjective
• pachydermoid
  adjective
• pachydermous
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pachyderm

First recorded in 1825–30; from French pachyderme, from New Latin Pachyderma, singular of Pachydermata (plural) obsolete order name, from Greek pachý(s) “thick” + -dérmata, neuter plural of -dermatos “-skinned,” adjective derivative of dermat-, stem of dérma “skin”; see origin at derma ¹

Explanation

A pachyderm is a really big animal with really thick skin, like an elephant or a hippo. If you break this word down to its parts, you see pachy which means thick and derm which means skin. It comes from the Greek, but was first used to describe a class of animals by a French naturalist in 1797. He believed that thick skinned animals all belonged to the same family and categorized them together. We now know to classify them according to different features, but the word remains both in use and descriptively useful.

Example Sentences

The pachyderm, fondly known as Craig, died of natural causes on Saturday morning at Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya, conservationists confirmed.

From BBC • Jan. 3, 2026

The pachyderm is expected to return to Sri Lanka after treatment, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has said, and animal welfare activists hope he will be sent to a sanctuary.

From Reuters • Jun. 21, 2023

The pachyderm rituals would not have seemed out of place at a human funeral: Some stood in quiet order while observing Tolstoy's remains, and others gently touched his body with their trunks.

From Salon • Apr. 23, 2023

But give this Asian elephant, who lives at the Berlin Zoo, a yellow banana speckled with brown, and she might do what none of her pachyderm companions do: peel it.

From New York Times • Apr. 10, 2023

The prisoners heard it ap- Eroach, shaking the pavement with its weight like an invinci- le pachyderm.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende