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tarpan

[tahr-pan]
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noun
  1. a small, dun-colored wild horse chiefly of southern Russia, having a flowing mane and tail: extinct since the early 20th century but somewhat restored by selective breeding of mixed-breed domestic horses, and sustained in zoos.
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Origin of tarpan

1835–45; < Russian tarpán, said to be < Kazakh or Kirghiz
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tarpan

Historical Examples

  • He resembles the tarpan or wild horse of the Caspian steppes.

    Evolution in Art

    Alfred C. Haddon

  • Another species, the Tarpan, roams the Steppes of Tartary, and is with great difficulty tamed to the use of man.

    The Desert World

    Arthur Mangin

  • Tarpan, tar′pan, n. the small wild horse of the steppes of Russia.

British Dictionary definitions for tarpan

tarpan

noun
  1. a European wild horse, Equus caballus gomelini, common in prehistoric times but now extinct
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Word Origin

from Kirghiz Tatar
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