pachyderm, n. and a.
(ˈpækɪdɜːm)
[a. F. pachyderme n. (Cuvier 1797), ad. Gr. παχύδερµ-ος thick-skinned, f. παχύ-ς thick + δέρµα skin. In a general sense, pachuderme adj. occurs casually in Fr. c 1600 (Hatz.-Darm.).]
A. n. Zool. A thick-skinned quadruped; spec. one of the Pachydermata of Cuvier.
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 415/2 That the quadruped under consideration [Hyrax] is a true Pachyderm. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xx. (1856) 160 That marine pachyderm, the tusky walrus. 1880 Haughton Phys. Geog. ii. 53 England was inhabited by herbivorous pachyderms..previous to the elevation of the east and west chain. |
b. fig. Cf. pachydermatous 2.
| 1867 Garfield in Century Mag. (1884) Jan. 417/2 Like all politicians he seems to have become a pachyderm. 1894 W. T. Stead in Review of Rev. (Amer. ed.) Apr. 428 To shrink from the rude shocks and jars which tough pachyderms bear with unruffled composure. |
B. adj. Zool. = pachydermatous a.
| 1868 Nat. Encycl. I. 821 Anthracotherium, a fossil genus of pachyderm mammals. |
Hence pachyˈdermal, pachyˈdermic, adjs. Zool.
| 1847 Ansted Anc. World ix. 197 The gigantic living pachydermal mammals, such as the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 416/2 The general balance of resemblance..is strongly in favour of the Pachydermic relationship of the animal. 1840 Ibid. XVII. 151/2 These and other Pachydermic forms. |