Meanings
plural giraffes · alternative obsolete giraff · alternative obsolete jaraff
- A ruminant in the genus Giraffa of the African savannah with long legs, a highly elongated neck, yellow fur patterned with dark spots typically in the form of a network, and two or more horn-like projections called ossicones; the tallest living animal.
A group of giraffes is called a tower.
2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBCSynonyms: camelopard
- colloquialA very tall individual.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA ruminant in the genus Giraffa of the African savannah with long legs, a highly elongated neck, yellow fur patterned with dark spots typically in the form of a network, and two or more horn-like projections called ossicones; the tallest living animal.
nounA laugh.
More synonyms by meaning
nountallest living quadruped; having a spotted coat and small horns and very long neck and legs; of savannahs of tropical Africa
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱer-
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱerh₂-der.?
- Classical Persianزُرْنَا (zurnā)
- Proto-Indo-European*ped-
- Proto-Indo-European*pṓds
- Proto-Indo-Iranian*pā́ts
- Proto-Iranian*pā́dah
- Old Persian𐎱𐎠𐎭 (p-a-d)
- Classical Persianپَا (pā)
- Classical Persianزُرْنَاپَا (zurnāpā)
- Classical Syriacܙܪܢܦܐ (zarnāp̄ā)
- Classical Syriacܙܪܝܦܐ (zārīp̄ā)
- Arabicزُرَافَة (zurāfa)
- Italiangiraffa
- Middle Frenchgiraffe
- Englishgiraffe
From Middle French giraffe, from Italian giraffa, from Arabic زُرَافَة (zurāfa), from Classical Syriac ܙܪܝܦܐ (zārīp̄ā), from Classical Persian زُرْنَاپَا (zurnāpā, literally “flute-leg”). Displaced camelopard.
More words from Middle French, Italian, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans kameelperd
- kameelperdmammal
Ancient Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις
- καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis)mammal
Arabic زَرَافَة
- زَرَافَة (zarāfa)mammal
Basque jirafa
- jirafamammal
Bengali জরৈফ
- জরৈফ (jorōiph)mammal
Bulgarian жира́ф, жира́фа
- жира́ф (žiráf)mammal
- жира́фа (žiráfa)mammal
Catalan girafa
- girafamammal
Chinese Cantonese 長頸鹿 /长颈鹿
- 長頸鹿 /长颈鹿mammal
Chinese Mandarin 長頸鹿 /长颈鹿
- 長頸鹿 /长颈鹿 (chángjǐnglù)mammal
Czech žirafa
- žirafamammal
Danish giraf
- girafmammal
Dutch giraf
- girafmammal
Esperanto ĝirafo
- ĝirafomammal
Estonian kaelkirjak
- kaelkirjakmammal
Finnish kirahvi
- kirahvimammal
French girafe, chameaupard
- girafemammal
- chameaupardmammal
German Giraffe
- Giraffemammal
Greek καμηλοπάρδαλη
- καμηλοπάρδαλη (kamilopárdali)mammal
Hawaiian kamelopaki
- kamelopakimammal
Hebrew גִ׳ירָף, זֶמֶר
- גִ׳ירָף (ĝīrāp̆)mammal
- זֶמֶר (zemer)mammal
Hindi जिराफ़, जिराफ
- जिराफ़ (jirāf)mammal
- जिराफ (jirāph)mammal
- जराफ़ (jarāf)mammal
- जुराफा (jurāphā)mammal
- जराफा (jarāphā)mammal
Hungarian zsiráf
- zsiráfmammal
Icelandic gíraffi
- gíraffimammal
Indonesian jerapah, zarafah
- jerapahmammal
- zarafahmammal
Irish sioráf
- sioráfmammal
Italian giraffa
- giraffamammal
Japanese 麒麟, キリン
- 麒麟 (kirin)mammal
- キリン (kirin)mammal
Korean 기린
- 기린 (girin)mammal
Latin camelopardalis
- camelopardalismammal
Latvian žirafe
- žirafemammal
Lithuanian žirafa
- žirafamammal
Malay zirafah
- zirafahmammal
Māori kakīroa
- kakīroamammal
Norwegian Bokmål sjiraff
- sjiraffmammal
Persian زرّافه, شترگاوپلنگ
- زرّافه (zarrâfe)mammal
- شترگاوپلنگ (šotorgâvpalang)mammal
- زرناپا (zornâpâ)mammal
Polish żyrafa
- żyrafamammal
Portuguese girafa
- girafamammal
Romanian girafă
- girafămammal
Russian жира́ф, жира́фа
- жира́ф (žiráf)mammal
- жира́фа (žiráfa)mammal
- гира́ф (giráf)mammal
Slovak žirafa
- žirafamammal
Spanish jirafa
- jirafamammal
Swahili twiga
- twigamammal
Swedish giraff
- giraffmammal
Tagalog hirapa
- hirapamammal
Tamil ஒட்டகச்சிவிங்கி
- ஒட்டகச்சிவிங்கி (oṭṭakacciviṅki)mammal
Thai ยีราฟ
- ยีราฟ (yii-ráap)mammal
Turkish zürafa
- zürafamammal
Ukrainian жира́фа, жира́ф
- жира́фа (žyráfa)mammal
- жира́ф (žyráf)mammal
Urdu جراف, زرافہ
- جراف (jirāf)mammal
- زرافہ (zarrāfe)mammal
Vietnamese hươu cao cổ
- hươu cao cổmammal
Welsh jiráff
- jiráffmammal
Yiddish זשיראַף
- זשיראַף (zhiraf)mammal
Zulu indlulamithi
- indlulamithimammal
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with giraffe
Anagrams
Cite this entry
giraffe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/giraffe
“giraffe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/giraffe. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “giraffe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/giraffe.
Source: giraffe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.