Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Rhinoceros

Definition: Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros

Noun

1. 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)


Specialty Definitions: Rhinoceros

DomainDefinitions

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.

Top     

Specialty Definition: Rhinoceros

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Rhinoceroses
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Perissodactyla
Family:Rhinocerotidae
Genera
 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.

External links

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."

Top     

Synonym: Rhinoceros

Synonym: rhino (n). (additional references)

Top     

Synonyms within Context: Rhinoceros

ContextSynonyms 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.

Top     

Crosswords: Rhinoceros

English words defined with "rhinoceros": Abada, Anisodactylsblack rhinoceros, Borele, BrontotheriumCeratotherium simum, CoryphodonDiceros simusgenus RhinocerosImparidigitate, Indian rhinocerosKeitloaMahoohooNasicornousorder Perissodactylapachyderm, Pachydermata, PerissodactylaRhinocerical, Rhinoceros antiquitatis, Rhinoceros auk, rhinoceros beetle, Rhinoceros bird, rhinoceros family, Rhinoceros unicornis, Rhinocerote, Rhinoceroticthick skin, Tichorrhine, TitanotheriumUmhofowhite rhinoceros, Woolly rhinoceros. (references)
Specialty definitions using "rhinoceros": Extinct SpeciesRhinoceros. (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).

Top     

Modern Usage: Rhinoceros

DomainUsage

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.

Top     

Commercial Usage: Rhinoceros

DomainTitle

Books

  

Theater & Movies

  

Music

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Image Slideshow: Rhinoceros

Photos:
Rhinoceros

More images...

Illustrations:
Rhinoceros

More images...

Computer Images:
Rhinoceros

More images...

Top     

Photo Album: Rhinoceros

ThumbnailDescription & Credit

The rhinoceros.Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Sounds Captioned with "Rhinoceros".

PlayCaption
Rhinoceros call.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Non-Fiction Usage: Rhinoceros

SubjectTopicQuote

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.

Top     

Usage Frequency: Rhinoceros

"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 SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)99%9932,870
Noun (plural)1%1339,140
                    Total100.00%100N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top     

Expressions: Rhinoceros

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.

Top     

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Rhinoceros

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.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
  ExpressionFrequency
per Day

  rhinoceros

399

  macropanesthia rhinoceros

5

  black rhinoceros

61

  javan rhinoceros

4

  rhinoceros beetle

56

  black picture rhinoceros

4

  rhinoceros picture

26

  3 rhinoceros

4

  white rhinoceros

25

  rhinoceros information

4

  3d rhinoceros

24

  eugene ionesco rhinoceros

3

  ionesco rhinoceros

19

  rhinoceros viper

3

  rhinoceros times

18

  rhinoceros tutoriales

3

  indian rhinoceros

15

  beetle grant rhinoceros

3

  3.0 rhinoceros

14

  3d rhinoceros v3.0

3

  rhinoceros tutorial

11

  cd key rhinoceros

3

  rhinoceros photo

10

  canada party rhinoceros

3

  theater rhinoceros

9

  1.0 rhinoceros

3

  eyes rhinoceros

9

  rhinoceros v3.0

3

  group rhinoceros

8

  fact rhinoceros

3

  iguana rhinoceros

7

  sumatran rhinoceros

2

  rhinoceros wooly

7

  cad rhinoceros

2

  rhinoceros success

6

  cartoon rhinoceros

2

  rhinoceros 2.0

6

  rhinoceros rhinoceros.com

2

  rhinoceros software

5

  renderer rhinoceros

2

  rhinoceros horn

5

  pic rhinoceros

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Modern Translations: Rhinoceros

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 

  

. (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 

  

. (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

   

Portuguese

  

rinoceronte (rhino). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

rinocer (rhino). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

носорог. (various references)

   

Sepedi

  

tahukudu. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

nosorog. (various references)

   

Shona

  

nhema (black rhinoceros), fura (white rhinoceros). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

rinoceronte (rhino), rinceronte (rhino). (various references)

   

Swahili

  

kifaru (rhino). (various references)

   

Swazi

  

um-khombe (white rhinoceros), bhéjané (black rhinoceros). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

noshörning (rhino). (various references)

   

Thai

  

แรด. (various references)

   

Turkish

  

gergedan (rhino). (various references)

   

Ukranian 

  

носоріг (rhino). (various references)

   

Zulu

  

ubhejane (black rhinoceros). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Top     

Ancestral Language Translations: Rhinoceros

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

Buceros rhinoceros rhinoceros, Oryctes rhinoceros, Oryctus rhinoceros, rhinoceros, rinoceros, rinocerota, rinocerotis. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Derivations & Misspellings: Rhinoceros

Derivations

Words beginning with "rhinoceros": rhinoceroses. (additional references)


Misspellings

"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).

Top     

Rhyming with "Rhinoceros"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "rhinoceros" (pronounced rīnÄ"serus)
4-s er u scancerous, precancerous.
3-er u sadulterous, 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.

Top     

Anagrams: Rhinoceros

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.

Top     

Alternative Orthography: Rhinoceros


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

52 68 69 6E 6F 63 65 72 6F 73

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

=

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

.-.    ....    ..    -.    ---    -.-.    .    .-.    ---    ...

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Top     

 

Bibliographic Items: "rhinoceros"


Top     

Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "rhinoceros"

Top     

Public Service or Web Sites Triggered by: Rhinoceros