okapi

[ oh-kah-pee ]

noun,plural o·ka·pis, (especially collectively) o·ka·pi.
  1. an African mammal, Okapia johnstoni, closely related to and resembling the giraffe, but smaller and with a much shorter neck.

Origin of okapi

1
1900; <Bambuba (Mvu’ba), a Central Sudanic language of the NE Democratic Republic of the Congo (or < a related Pygmy dial.), according to English Africanist Harry Johnston (1858–1927), author of the first zoological descriptions of the animal

Words Nearby okapi

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How to use okapi in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for okapi

okapi

/ (əʊˈkɑːpɪ) /


nounplural -pis or -pi
  1. a ruminant mammal, Okapia johnstoni, of the forests of central Africa, having a reddish-brown coat with horizontal white stripes on the legs and small horns: family Giraffidae

Origin of okapi

1
C20: from a Central African word

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