chevrotain
UK /ˈʃɛvɹə(ʊ)teɪn/ · US /ˈʃɛvɹəˌteɪn/ noun
Forms chevrotains
- noun Any of several small hornless ruminants of the family Tragulidae, native to tropical rainforests of South and Southeast Asia, and Central and West Africa.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French chevrotain, chevrotin (“ruminant of the family Tragulidae”), the diminutive of Old French chevrot (“young goat, kid”), itself a diminutive of chievre (“goat”) (modern French chèvre (“she-goat”)) + -ot (diminutive suffix). Chievre is derived from Latin capra (“she-goat”), from caper (“billy goat, he-goat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kápros (“billy goat, he-goat”)) + -a (suffix forming feminine counterparts of masculine nouns).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A small ruminant of the family Tragulidæ a allied to the musk deer. It inhabits Africa and the East Indies. See Kanchil.
Etymology [F. chevrotin, OF. chevrot little goat, roe, dim. of chevre goat. See Chevron.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chevrotain”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details