red deer
a. A species of deer, Cervus elaphus, so named from its reddish-brown colour, widely distributed in Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, and still existing in a wild state in the Highlands of Scotland and some other parts of Great Britain. b. The Virginia deer, Cariacus virginianus, the common deer of N. America. c. The Caspian or Persian deer, Cervus maral.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lxi, He chaced at the reed deer. 1485 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 373/1 A Reed Dere called an Hert. 1546 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 251 Or any red deare be fatt, it will be July, as far as my experience serves. 1620 Venner Via Recta iii. 55 Some doe suppose Venison of Fallow-Deere to be of a middle nature betweene the flesh of Red-Deere and of Weathers. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 156 They are good roasted, sodden, or baked as Red Deer. 1710 Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 335 Woods which were once well stock'd with Red and Fallow Deer. 1789 G. White Selborne vi, The red-deer, which toward the beginning of this century amounted to about five hundred head. 1819 Warden United States III. 172 Of deer there are three kinds—1. The common red deer [etc.]. 1837 Howitt Rur. Life i. iii. (1862) 27 The herds of red⁓deer trooping away from the sounds of wheels in the silent park. 1884–5 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) V. 292 The Stag, or Red deer, attains a length of seven feet. Ibid. 293 For fleetness and agility the red deer is unexcelled. |
| attrib. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. v. ii, Where is your venison now? Your red-deer pies? 1693 Lond. Gaz. No. 2903/4 A Red-Deer-Horn-Hafted Knife. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxix, A bit of red-deer venison. 1895 Cornish Wild England 120 Every year the largest red-deer stags are caught and removed to Windsor Park. |