καμηλοπάρδαλις

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 13 June 2018

Etymology

From κάμηλος (kámēlos, camel) +‎ πάρδαλις (párdalis, leopard);[1] from the fact that a giraffe has a long neck like a camel and is spotted like a leopard.

Pronunciation

 

Noun

κᾰμηλοπάρδᾰλῐς • (kămēlopárdălĭsf (genitive κᾰμηλοπαρδάλεως); third declension

  1. giraffe

Inflection

Descendants

  • Greek: καμηλοπάρδαλη (kamilopárdali)
  • Latin: camēlopardalis
  • Old Georgian: აქლემ-ვეფხი (aklem-vepxi) (partial calque)

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κάμηλος (> COMP > καμηλο-πάρδαλις)”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 630

Further reading