Meanings
plural deerhounds
- A breed of dog, rather like a large greyhound, originally bred in Scotland for hunting deer.
In dogs most of the breeds, useful, ornamental, large, and small are represented, from the great gaunt, grisly deerhound, the huge mastiff, the generous St. Bernard and Newfoundland, to the friendly, industrious, ultra-intelligent collie and the toy terrier.
1894 September 14, The South Australian Register, Adelaide, page 7, column 2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounvery large and tall rough-coated dog bred for hunting deer; known as the royal dog of Scotland
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old English*dēorhund
- Middle English*deerhound
- Englishdeerhound
From Middle English *deerhound, *deerehund, from Old English *dēorhund (attested in hēahdēorhund (“stag-hound, deer-hound, a dog for hunting great game”)), equivalent to deer + hound.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish skotlanninhirvikoira
- skotlanninhirvikoirabreed of dog
Greek ελαφόσκυλο, ελαφοθήρας κύων
- ελαφόσκυλο (elafóskylo)breed of dog
- ελαφοθήρας κύων (elafothíras kýon)breed of dog
Malay anjing pemburu rusa
- anjing pemburu rusabreed of dog
Cite this entry
deerhound. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deerhound
“deerhound.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deerhound. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deerhound,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deerhound.
Source: deerhound on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.