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Definition: Rhinoceros |
RhinocerosNoun1. Massive powerful herbivorous odd-toed ungulate of southeast Asia and Africa having very thick skin and one or two horns on the snout. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "rhinoceros" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1606. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Dream Interpretation | To dream that you see a rhinoceros, foretells you will have a great loss threatening you, and that you will have secret troubles. To kill one, shows that you will bravely overcome obstacles. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
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Diceros Ceratotherium Rhinoceros Dicerorhinus |
A rhinoceros is any of five surviving species of odd-toed ungulate in the family Rhinocerotidae. All five are native to Africa or Asia. Several other species became extinct within geologically recent times, notably the Wooly Rhinoceros: the extent to which climate change or human predation was responsible is debated.
Rhinoceros-like animals first appeared in the Eocene as rather slender animals, and by the late Miocene there were many different species. Most were large. One, Indricotherium weighed about 30 tonnes and (so far as is known) was the largest terrestrial mammal that ever lived. Rhinos became extinct during the Pliocene in North America, and during the Pleistocene in northern Asia and Europe.
The five living species fall into three tribes. The critically endangered Sumatran Rhinoceros is the only surving representative of the most primitive group, the Dicerorhinini, which emerged in the Miocene (abut 20 million years ago). There are two living Rhinocerotini species, the endangered Indian Rhinoceros and the critically endangered Javan Rhinoceros, which diverged from one another about 10 million years go. The extinct Wooly Rhinoceros of northern Europe and Asia was also a member of this tribe. The two African species, the White Rhinoceros and the Black Rhinoceros, diverged during the early Pliocene (about 5 million years ago) but the Dicerotini group to which they belong originated in the middle Miocene, about 14 million years ago.
Rhinoceros horns are used in traditional Asian medicine, and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman. None of the five rhinoceros species have secure futures: the White Rhino is perhaps the least endangered, the Javanese Rhino survives in only tiny numbers (estimated at 60 animals in 2002) and is one of the two or three most endangered large mammals anywhere in the world.
Rhino protection campaigns began in the 1970s, but rhino populations have continued to decline dramatically. Trade in rhinoceros parts is forbidden under the CITES agreements, but poaching is a severe threat to all rhinoceros species.
The most obvious distinguishing characteric of the rhinos is a large horn on the nose. The word rhinoceros comes from the Greek words rhino (nose) and keros (horn). Rhinoceros horns, unlike those of other horned mammals, consist of densely compacted hair.
Rhinoceros is also the name of a play by Eugène Ionesco; see Rhinoceros (play).
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Rhinoceros."
Synonym: RhinocerosSynonym: rhino (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Insensibility | Verb: be insensible; Adjective: have a rhinoceros hide; show insensibility; Noun: not mind, not care, not be affected by; have no desire for; have no interest in, feel no interest in, take no interest in; nil admirari; not care a straw; (unimportance) for; disregard; (neglect); set at naught; (make light of); turn a deaf ear to; (inattention); vegetate. |
Physical Insensibility | Verb: be insensible. Adjective: have a thick skin, have a rhinoceros hide. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Rhinoceros |
| English words defined with "rhinoceros": Abada, Anisodactyls ♦ black rhinoceros, Borele, Brontotherium ♦ Ceratotherium simum, Coryphodon ♦ Diceros simus ♦ genus Rhinoceros ♦ Imparidigitate, Indian rhinoceros ♦ Keitloa ♦ Mahoohoo ♦ Nasicornous ♦ order Perissodactyla ♦ pachyderm, Pachydermata, Perissodactyla ♦ Rhinocerical, Rhinoceros antiquitatis, Rhinoceros auk, rhinoceros beetle, Rhinoceros bird, rhinoceros family, Rhinoceros unicornis, Rhinocerote, Rhinocerotic ♦ thick skin, Tichorrhine, Titanotherium ♦ Umhofo ♦ white rhinoceros, Woolly rhinoceros. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "rhinoceros": Extinct Species ♦ Rhinoceros. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "rhinoceros": Rhinocerote. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Rhinoceros" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. Latin (rhinoceros). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'm so hungry I could eat the ass end out of a dead rhinoceros. (Apollo 13; writing credit: Jim Lovell; Jeffrey Kluger) I know I may seem like a rhinoceros, but really I have thin skin. (Circle of Friends; writing credit: Maeve Binchy; Andrew Davies) In Wisconsin, if you win a girl a giant, purple rhinoceros, she puts out! (That '70s Show; writing credit: Stacia Raymond) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Rhinoceros (1973) The Ringtailed Rhinoceros (1915) Rhinoceros Eyes (2003) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | ![]() | The rhinoceros.Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Play | Caption |
| Rhinoceros call. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Trade | Yemen | While a definitive list of restrictions does not exist, pork and pork products, coffee, alcohol, narcotics, a very limited list of fresh fruits and vegetables during their local production season, weapons and explosives, and rhinoceros horn are prohibited. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Rhinoceros" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.00% of the time. "Rhinoceros" is used about 100 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99% | 99 | 32,870 |
| Noun (plural) | 1% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 100 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "rhinoceros": Atelodus or Rhinoceros simus ♦ black rhinoceros ♦ Buceros rhinoceros ♦ genus Rhinoceros ♦ have a rhinoceros hide ♦ indian rhinoceros ♦ Rhinoceros antiquitatis ♦ rhinoceros auk ♦ rhinoceros beetle ♦ rhinoceros bird ♦ rhinoceros family ♦ rhinoceros hornbill ♦ rhinoceros Indicus ♦ rhinoceros simus ♦ rhinoceros Sondaicus ♦ rhinoceros tichorhinus ♦ Rhinoceros unicornis ♦ white rhinoceros ♦ woolly rhinoceros. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "rhinoceros": rhinoceros-horn, rhinoceros-like. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "rhinoceros"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaan | renoster (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | rinoceront. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | وحيد القرن, الكركدن. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | носорог (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 犀 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | nosorožec. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | stor naesehornsfugl (Malayan rhinoceros hornbill). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | rinoceros (rhino), neushoorn (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | rinocero (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | nashyrningur (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | کرگردن(ج.ش.), رده کرگدن ها. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | sarvikuono (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | rhinocéros (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frisian | noashoarn (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Nashorn (rhino), Rhinozeros (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ρινόκερωσ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | קרנף (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | orrszarvú (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | badak. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish | srónbheannach. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | rinoceronte (rhino). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 犀 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | さい (ability, again, alas!, aptitude, circumstances, companion, cut, debt, difference, disparity, genius, gift, hold, how!, judge, loan, my son, on the occasion of, planting, re-, repeated, son, talent, the extreme, the most, what!, -years-old). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | stroineairkagh. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | inocerosrhay rinoceronte (rhino). (various references) rinocer (rhino). (various references) носорог. (various references) tahukudu. (various references) nosorog. (various references) nhema (black rhinoceros), fura (white rhinoceros). (various references) rinoceronte (rhino), rinceronte (rhino). (various references) kifaru (rhino). (various references) um-khombe (white rhinoceros), bhéjané (black rhinoceros). (various references) noshörning (rhino). (various references) แรด. (various references) gergedan (rhino). (various references) носоріг (rhino). (various references) ubhejane (black rhinoceros). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Buceros rhinoceros rhinoceros, Oryctes rhinoceros, Oryctus rhinoceros, rhinoceros, rinoceros, rinocerota, rinocerotis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "rhinoceros": rhinoceroses. (additional references) | |
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"Rhinoceros" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: hydnoceras, Rhincres, Rhincrew, rhinocerous, rhinocerus. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "rhinoceros" (pronounced rīnÄ"serus) |
| 4 | -s er u s | cancerous, precancerous. |
| 3 | -er u s | adulterous, adventurous, amorous, avarice, barbarous, boisterous, cantankerous, carboniferous, carnivorous, coniferous, dangerous, decorous, fossiliferous, generous, glamorous, herbivorous, heterosporous, homosporous, humerus, humorous, insectivorous, lecherous, murderous, numerous, odorous, omnivorous, onerous, overgenerous, oviparous, ovoviviparous, phosphorous, phosphorus, ponderous, preposterous, prosperous, rancorous, rapturous, rigorous, slanderous, sonorous, tetramerous, thunderous, timorous, traitorous, treacherous, unglamorous, uterus, vigorous, viviparous, vociferous. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-h-i-n-o-o-r-r-s" | |
-1 letter: isochrone. | |
-2 letters: choosier, chorines, chorions, cohesion, coroners, crooners, honorers, isochore, isochron, resorcin, schooner. | |
-3 letters: chirres, chooser, chorine, chorion, cirrose, coheirs, coiners, corners, cornier, coroner, corries, cronies, crooner, crosier, erosion, heroics, heroins, honorer, hornier, horsier, inshore, ironers, isochor, onshore, orceins, orrices, recoins, richens, scorner, soroche. | |
-4 letters: censor, chines, chinos, chiros, chirre, chirrs, choirs, choose, chores. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-h-i-n-o-o-r-r-s" | |
+2 letters: rhinoceroses. | |
+3 letters: chronometries, cochairperson, iconographers, orchestration. | |
+4 letters: chromoproteins, chronographies, cochairpersons, controllership, hydrocortisone, orchestrations, trisoctahedron. | |
+5 letters: chlorpromazines, chronotherapies, conservatorship, controllerships, hexylresorcinol, hydrocortisones, orchestrational, organochlorines, reorchestration, trisoctahedrons. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)52 68 69 6E 6F 63 65 72 6F 73 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).-. .... .. -. --- -.-. . .-. --- ... |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "rhinoceros" |