Caribou Definition

kărə-bo͝o
caribous
noun
Any of several large North American reindeer.
Webster's New World
A large deer (Rangifer tarandus) of the Arctic tundra and northern boreal forests, having large hooves and long branched antlers in both sexes. Subspecies native to Eurasia are usually called reindeer.
American Heritage
Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Caribou

Noun

Singular:
caribou
Plural:
caribous

Origin of Caribou

  • From Mi'kmaq qalipu (partly via Canadian French caribou) from Proto-Algonquian mekālixpowa mekāl- to scrape -ixpo- snow (because caribou use their hooves to dig through snow to reach the lichens on which they feed in winter)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Mi'kmaq qalipu (partly via Canadian French caribou) from Proto-Algonquian mekālixpowa mekāl- to scrape -ixpo- snow (because caribou use their hooves to dig through snow to reach the lichens on which they feed in winter)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Canadian French caribou, from Mi'kmaq qalipu (“snow-shoveller”), from qalipi (“to shovel snow”), from Proto-Algonquian.

    From Wiktionary

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caribou