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rhino-ceros

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rhi⋅noc⋅er⋅os

[rahy-nos-er-uhs]
–noun, plural -os⋅es, (especially collectively) -os.
1. any of several large, thick-skinned, perissodactyl mammals of the family Rhinocerotidae, of Africa and India, having one or two upright horns on the snout: all rhinoceroses are endangered.
2. Douay Bible. unicorn (def. 4).

Origin:
1300–50; ME rinoceros < LL rhīnoceros < Gk rhīnókerōs, equiv. to rhīno- rhino- + -kerōs -horned, adj. deriv. of kéras horn (of an animal)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

rhinoceros 
c.1300, from L. rhinoceros, from Gk. rhinokeros, from rhinos "nose" (a word of unknown origin) + keras "horn." Shortened form rhino is first attested 1884.
"What is the plural of rhinoceros? ... Well, Liddell and Scott seem to authorize 'rhinocerotes,' which is pedantic, but 'rhinoceroses' is not euphonious." [Sir Charles Eliot, "The East Africa Protectorate," 1905]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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