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rhinoceros

rye-NOSS-er-us · noun

Ancient GreekLatinEnglish

Origin

From Latin rhīnocerōs, borrowed from Ancient Greek ῥῑνόκερως (rhīnókerōs, 'nose-horned'), itself built from ῥῑ́ς/ῥῑνός (rhī́s/rhīnós, 'nose') plus κέρας (kéras, 'horn').

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Journey

The name has stayed remarkably literal — Greek speakers looked at the animal, saw a horn sitting on its nose, and named it exactly that.

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From Ancient Greek

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