wapiti

American  

[wop-i-tee] / ˈwɒp ɪ ti /

noun

wapitis, plural wapiti plural

1. elk.

---

wapiti British  

/ ˈwɒpɪtɪ /

noun

1. Also called: American elk.  a large deer, Cervus canadensis, with large much-branched antlers, native to North America and now also common in the South Island of New Zealand

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• wapiti
  plural
• wapitis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of wapiti

An Americanism dating back to 1805–10; from Shawnee wa·piti literally, “white rump” (equivalent to unattested Proto-Algonquian wa·p- “white” + unattested -etwiy- “rump”); introduced as an English word by U.S. physician and naturalist Benjamin S. Barton ( 1766–1815 )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wapiti wapitis

The EVA team found some of the ancient DNA came from wapiti, the species of elk whose tooth was used to make it.

From Science Magazine ● May 3, 2023

When the wapiti were spread out it necessitated a daily snowmobile ride to each site, and feeding often entailed a long day’s work.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 8, 2017

Authorities say a witness saw the men shoot at the wapiti and then make no attempt to investigate the outcome of the gunfire or dress the animals.

From Washington Times ● May 7, 2015

Muskrats come down from Bohemia, and heavy-bodied stags recall the days when Francis Joseph I imported wapiti from America for the royal hunt.

From Time Magazine Archive

The male wapiti at maturity is some 7 or 8 feet high at the shoulders, and lifts its wide-spreading antlers fully 11 feet from the ground.

From North America by Russell, Israel C. (Cook)

Yes, madam,” added Hobson, who had carefully examined the wapitis after the hunter’s remark; “and whether at our hands or from the teeth of wolves, those wapitis will meet death where they now stand.”

From The Fur Country Seventy Degrees North Latitude by D'Anvers, N.

“Have these wapitis a commercial value?” asked Mrs Paulina Barnett.

From The Fur Country Seventy Degrees North Latitude by D'Anvers, N.

The wapitis were so engrossed in their desperate struggle that they were unconscious of the approach of the hunters; but they would probably not have ceased fighting, had they been aware of it.

From The Fur Country Seventy Degrees North Latitude by D'Anvers, N.

Mrs Barnett and Lieutenant Hobson had been chatting together for some minutes, when, with the exception of two, the wapitis suddenly ceased fighting.

From The Fur Country Seventy Degrees North Latitude by D'Anvers, N.

I had an hereditary love of sport, and had read and heard wonderful tales of bison, and grisly bears, and wapitis.

From Tracks of a Rolling Stone by Coke, Henry J. (Henry John)