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caiman

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cai⋅man

  [key-muhn]
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–noun, plural -mans.
any of several tropical American crocodilians of the genus Caiman and allied genera: some are endangered.
Also, cayman.

Origin:
1570–80; < Sp caimán < Carib
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cai·man also cay·man   (kā'mən)   
n.   pl. cai·mans
Any of various tropical American crocodilians of the genus Caiman and related genera, resembling and closely related to the alligators.

[Spanish caimán, from Carib acayuman.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

caiman 
1577, from Port. or Sp. caiman, from a Carib word, or perhaps from a Congo African word applied to the reptiles in the new world by African slaves. "The name appears to be one of those like anaconda and bom, boma, which the Portuguese or Spaniards very early caught up in one part of the world, and naturalized in another." [OED]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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