Rhinoceros

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: rhi=noc=er=os

CIDE DICTIONARY

Rhinoceros, n. [L., fr. Gr. "rinoke`rws, "rinoke`rwtos; "ri`s, "rino`s, the nose + ke`ras a horn: cf. F. rhinocéros. See Horn.].

 Any pachyderm belonging to the genera Rhinoceros, Atelodus, and several allied genera of the family Rhinocerotidæ, of which several living, and many extinct, species are known. They are large and powerful, and usually have either one or two stout conical median horns on the snout.  [1913 Webster]
" The Indian, or white, and the Javan rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros Indicus and Rhinoceros Sondaicus) have incisor and canine teeth, but only one horn, and the very thick skin forms shieldlike folds. The two or three African species belong to Atelodus, and have two horns, but lack the dermal folds, and the incisor and canine teeth. The two Malay, or East Indian, two-horned species belong to Ceratohinus, in which incisor and canine teeth are present. See Borele, and Keitloa."  [1913 Webster]

Rhinoceros auk (Zoöl.), an auk of the North Pacific (Cerorhina monocrata) which has a deciduous horn on top of the bill. -- Rhinoceros beetle (Zoöl.), a very large beetle of the genus Dynastes, having a horn on the head. -- Rhinoceros bird. (Zoöl.) (a) A large hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros), native of the East Indies. It has a large hollow hornlike process on the bill. Called also rhinoceros hornbill. See Hornbill. (b) An African beefeater (Buphaga Africana). It alights on the back of the rhinoceros in search of parasitic insects.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Rhinoceros, n. (pl. same or rhinoceroses) any of various large thick-skinned plant-eating ungulates of the family Rhinocerotidae of Africa and S. Asia, with one horn or in some cases two horns on the nose and plated or folded skin.

Idiom

rhinoceros bird = ox-pecker. rhinoceros horn a mass of keratinized fibres, reputed to have medicinal or aphrodisiac powers.

Derivative

rhinocerotic adj.

Etymology

ME f. L f. Gk rhinokeros (as RHINO-, keras horn)