hippopotamus: [16] Etymologically, a hippopotamus is a ‘river horse’. The word comes, via Latin, from late Greek hippopótamos, a lexicalization of an earlier phrase híppos ho potámios, literally ‘horse of the river’. Other English descendants of híppos (a relative of Latin equus ‘horse’) include hippodrome [16], from a Greek compound that meant originally ‘horse-race’ (-drome occurs also in aerodrome and dromedary), and the name Philip, literally ‘lover of horses’. The abbreviation hippo, incidentally, dates from the mid-19th century. => equine, hippodrome
hippopotamus (n.)
1560s, from Late Latin hippopotamus, from Greek hippopotamus "riverhorse" (earlier ho hippos ho potamios "the horse of the river"), from hippos "horse" (see equine) + potamos "river, rushing water" (see potamo-). Replaced Middle English ypotame (c. 1300), which is from the same source but via Old French. Glossed in Old English as sæhengest.
Ypotamos comen flyngynge. ... Grete bestes and griselich ["Kyng Alisaunder," c. 1300]
中文解释
1. hippo- + potam- + -us (Latin suffix).2. => river horse, horse of the river.
实用例句
1. And so what does Hippopotamus wish to close with?
河马想说些什么来结束此篇?
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2. The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing ( about ) in the mud.
孩子们真喜观看河马在泥中 打滚.
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3. A hippopotamus surfs the waves off the coast of Gabon.
一头河马在加蓬的海岸附近冲浪.
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4. A huge animal, possibly hippopotamus, described in the Old Testament.
在旧约中描述的宏大动物, 可能是河马.
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5. The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing in the mud.
