hippopotamus
Syllables: hip·po·po·ta·musUK/ˌhɪp.əˈpɒt.ə.məs//ˌhɪp.əˈpɑ.tə.məs/
hippopotamus noun: a semi-aquatic, herbivorous, African hoofed mammal of the family Hippopotamidae.
Noun
hippopotamus (plural hippopotami or hippopotamuses or hippopotamus)
- A semi-aquatic, herbivorous, African hoofed mammal of the family Hippopotamidae.
- Synonyms:
- hippo, hippopotamid, river horse
- The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius).
- These were the first hippopotami that we had ever seen, and, to judge by their insatiable curiosity, I should judge that we were the first white men that they had ever seen.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
hippopotamus meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
hippopotamus in Hindi
- African mammal
- दरियाई घोड़ा dariyāī ghoṛā, जलीय घोड़ा jalīya ghoṛā, जलहस्ती jalhastī
hippopotamus in Tamil
- African mammal
- நீரானை nīrāṉai
hippopotamus in Marathi
- African mammal
- पाणघोड pāṇghoḍ
hippopotamus in Urdu
- African mammal
- دریائی گھوڑا dariyā'ī ghoṛā
More languagesFewer languages
- hippopotamus in Bengali
- জলহস্তী jolohosti
- hippopotamus in Malayalam
- നീർക്കുതിര nīṟkkutira, ഹിപ്പോപ്പൊട്ടാമസ് hippōppoṭṭāmasŭ
- hippopotamus in Kannada
- ನೀರುಕುದುರೆ, ನೀರಾನೆ, ನೀರ್ಗುದುರೆ
- hippopotamus in Punjabi
- ਦਰਿਆਈ ਘੋੜਾ dariāī ghoṛā
- hippopotamus in Gujarati
- જળઘોડો jaḷghoḍo
- hippopotamus in Odia
- ଦରିଆ ଘୋଡ଼ା dariā ghoṟḍ̠ā
- hippopotamus in Sanskrit
- करियाद kariyāda
- hippopotamus in Sinhala
- හිපපොටේමස් hipapoṭēmas
- hippopotamus in Assamese
- জলহস্তী zolohosti
- hippopotamus in Pashto
- د اوبو آس
- hippopotamus in Tagalog
- ipopotamo
- hippopotamus in Arabic
- فَرَس نَهْر faras nahr
- hippopotamus in Malay
- badak air
- hippopotamus in Indonesian
- kuda nil
- hippopotamus in Persian
- اسب آبی asb-e âbi
- hippopotamus in Thai
- ฮิปโปโปเตมัส híp-bpoo-bpoo-dtee-más
- hippopotamus in Vietnamese
- lợn nước, hà mã
- hippopotamus in Myanmar
- ရေမြင်း re-mrang:
Synonyms of hippopotamus
Forms of hippopotamus
| plural | hippopotami |
|---|---|
| plural | hippopotamuses |
| plural | hippopotamus |
| alternative form | hippotamus |
| alternative form (archaic) | hippopotamos |
Origin of hippopotamus
From Latin and New Latin hippopotamus, from Ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos), from ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (English hippo-) + ποταμός (potamós, “river”). First attested in the 1560s. Displaced displaced English nicker (from native Old English nicor) and river horse.
Words formed from hippopotamus
Phrases with hippopotamus
Questions about hippopotamus
- What does hippopotamus mean?
- Hippopotamus means a semi-aquatic, herbivorous, African hoofed mammal of the family Hippopotamidae.
- What is hippopotamus in Hindi?
- Hippopotamus in Hindi is दरियाई घोड़ा (dariyāī ghoṛā), जलीय घोड़ा (jalīya ghoṛā), जलहस्ती (jalhastī). See Hippopotamus meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is hippopotamus?
- Hippopotamus is a noun.
- How do you pronounce hippopotamus?
- Hippopotamus is pronounced /ˌhɪp.əˈpɒt.ə.məs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of hippopotamus?
- The plural of hippopotamus is hippopotami.
Words near hippopotamus in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hippopotamus (page history and authors); hippopotamus (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); જળઘોડો (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-hippopotamus.ogg.
Cite this entry: “hippopotamus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hippopotamus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.