Okapi
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A large ruminant mammal, of species Okapia johnstoni, found in the rainforests of the Congo, related to the giraffe but with a much shorter neck, a reddish-brown coat, and zebra-like stripes on the hindquarters.
"[page 498, column 1] [I]n leading them [African Pygmies] back to the forests where they dwelt, I obtained much information from them on the subject of the horse-like animal which they called the "Okapi." […] [page 499, column 1] The coloration of the Okapi is quite extraordinary. […] The hind quarters, hind and fore legs are either snowy white or pale cream color, touched here and there with orange. They are boldly marked, however, with purple-black stripes and splodges, which give that zebra-like appearance to the limbs of the Okapi that caused the first imperfect account of it to indicate the discovery of a new striped horse."
- 2 similar to the giraffe but smaller with much shorter neck and stripe on the legs wordnet
Example
More examples"There are two okapi in the zoo."
Etymology
Borrowed from Mvuba okapi.
More for "okapi"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.