Etymologically
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giraffe

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dʒɪˈɹɑːf/ (UK); /d͡ʒəˈɹæf/ (US)[1]

Etymology

The modern form is borrowed from French girafe,[2][3][4] from Italian giraffa,[2][5][3][6][4] from Arabic زرافة (zarāfa),[2][5][3][6][4] probably of African origin.[2][5][3] Random House suggests instead a Persian source.[4] Earlier English forms such as jarraf and ziraph came directly from Arabic,[5][3] while Middle English gerfaunt was apparently influenced by olifaunt “elephant”.[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle English gerfauntz appears about 1400 in Mandeville's Travels.[5][3] The word giraffa for the African animal is recorded in 1594.[7][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The spelling varied widely according to the language it was taken from;[5][3] the modern form, through French, is attested by about 1600.[3][6] It replaced the older name camelopard.[3] The name was also given to the constellation Camelopardalis (1836)[7][4] and to a kind of upright spinet (1876).[7]

Timeline

  • about 1400 – gerfauntz.[5][3]
  • 1594 – giraffa, the animal.[7][5][3]
  • c. 1600 – the modern form.[3][6]
  • 1836 – the constellation.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A tall African ruminant with a very long neck and legs and a coat with dark blotches; the tallest living land animal.
  2. (capitalized) The constellation Camelopardalis.

Word family

  • giraffish
  • camelopard
  • okapi

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press