Alpaca
//ælˈpækə// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A sheep-like domesticated animal of the Andes, Vicugna pacos, in the camel family, closely related to the llama, guanaco, and vicuña. countable, uncountable
"Away from the village, there was an enclosure containing several large animals of a kind I had not seen before—shaggy, long-necked, small-headed creatures who stood or lay at ease around their pen. Alpacas?"
- 2 domesticated llama with long silky fleece; believed to be a domesticated variety of the guanaco wordnet
- 3 Wool from the alpaca, with strong very long fibres and coloring from black to brown to white. uncountable
"A lady in frayed alpaca, carrying a house-flannel, came to hearken."
- 4 a thin glossy fabric made of the wool of the Lama pacos, or made of a rayon or cotton imitation of that wool wordnet
- 5 A garment made of such wool. countable, uncountable
"The dress was at the bottom, — it was an alpaca, of a pretty shade in blue, bedecked with lace and ribbons, as is the fashion of the hour, and lined with sea-green silk."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 wool of the alpaca wordnet
Example
More examples"To record something, they used knotted cords made of the wool of the llama or alpaca."
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish alpaca, from Aymara allpaqa.
Related phrases
More for "alpaca"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.