capybara
(kæpɪˈbɑːrə)
Also capibara.
[A native name in Brazil.]
The largest extant rodent quadruped (Hydrochœrus Capybara), nearly allied to the Guinea-pig; it lives about the rivers of tropical S. America. Cf. cabiai.
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) I. iii. iii. 350 The capibara resembles a hog of about two years old..Some naturalists have called it the water-hog. 1849 Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia IV. 155 The food of the capybara consists exclusively of grass and vegetables, as water-melons, gourds, etc. 1852 Th. Ross tr. Humboldt's Trav. II. xviii. 168 A herd of capybaras which was crossing the river. |