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car·i·bou

(kărə-b′)

n. pl. caribouor car·i·bous

A large deer (Rangifer tarandus) of the Arctic tundra and northern boreal forests, having large hooves and long branched antlers. Subspecies native to Eurasia are usually called reindeer.

[From Mi'kmaq qalipu (partly via Canadian French caribou), from Proto-Algonquian *mekālixpowa : *mekāl-, to scrape + *-ixpo-, snow (because caribou use their hooves to dig through snow to reach the lichens on which they feed in winter).]

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caribou

male caribou

Rangifer tarandus

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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