Meanings
plural hippopotami · plural hippopotamuses · alternative archaic hippopotamos · alternative hippotamus
- A semi-aquatic, herbivorous, African hoofed mammal of the family Hippopotamidae.
Synonyms: hippo, hippopotamid, river horse
- The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius).
These were the first hippopotami that we had ever seen, and, to judge by their insatiable curiosity, I should judge that we were the first white men that they had ever seen.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA semi-aquatic, herbivorous, African hoofed mammal of the family Hippopotamidae.
More synonyms by meaning
nounmassive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around rivers of tropical Africa
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*HéHḱus
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éḱwos
- Proto-Hellenic*íkkʷos
- Ancient Greekῐ̔́ππος (hĭ́ppos)
- Proto-Indo-European*peth₂-der.?
- Ancient Greekποτᾰμός (potămós)
- Ancient Greekἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos)
- Latinhippopotamus
- Englishhippopotamus
From Latin and New Latin hippopotamus, from Ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos), from ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) (English hippo-) + ποταμός (potamós, “river”). First attested in the 1560s. Displaced English nicker (from native Old English nicor) and river horse.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans seekoei
- seekoeiAfrican mammal
Ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος, ἵππος ποτάμιος
- ἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos)African mammal
- ἵππος ποτάμιος (híppos potámios)African mammal
Arabic فَرَس نَهْر
- فَرَس نَهْر (faras nahr)African mammal
Basque hipopotamo
- hipopotamoAfrican mammal
Bengali জলহস্তী
- জলহস্তী (jolohosti)African mammal
Bulgarian хипопота́м, ре́чен кон
- хипопота́м (hipopotám)African mammal
- ре́чен кон (réčen kon)African mammal
- бегемо́т (begemót)African mammal
Catalan hipopòtam
- hipopòtamAfrican mammal
Chinese Cantonese 河馬 /河马
- 河馬 /河马 (ho⁴ maa⁵)African mammal
Chinese Mandarin 河馬 /河马
- 河馬 /河马 (hémǎ)African mammal
Czech hroch
- hrochAfrican mammal
Danish flodhest
- flodhestAfrican mammal
Dutch nijlpaard
- nijlpaardAfrican mammal
Esperanto hipopotamo
- hipopotamoAfrican mammal
Estonian jõehobu
- jõehobuAfrican mammal
Finnish virtahepo
- virtahepoAfrican mammal
French hippopotame, hippo
- hippopotameAfrican mammal
- hippoAfrican mammal
- cheval marinAfrican mammal
German Flusspferd, Nilpferd
- FlusspferdAfrican mammal
- NilpferdAfrican mammal
Greek ιπποπόταμος
- ιπποπόταμος (ippopótamos)African mammal
Hebrew הִיפּוֹפּוֹטָם, בְּהֵמוֹת
- הִיפּוֹפּוֹטָם (hipopotám)African mammal
- בְּהֵמוֹת (b'hemót)African mammal
- סוּס יְאוֹר (sus y'ór)African mammal
Hindi दरियाई घोड़ा, जलीय घोड़ा
- दरियाई घोड़ा (dariyāī ghoṛā)African mammal
- जलीय घोड़ा (jalīya ghoṛā)African mammal
- जलहस्ती (jalhastī)African mammal
Hungarian víziló
- vízilóAfrican mammal
Icelandic flóðhestur
- flóðhesturAfrican mammal
Indonesian kuda nil
- kuda nilAfrican mammal
Irish dobhareach
- dobhareachAfrican mammal
Italian ippopotamo
- ippopotamoAfrican mammal
Japanese 河馬, カバ
- 河馬 (kaba)African mammal
- カバ (kaba)African mammal
Korean 하마
- 하마 (hama)African mammal
Latin hippopotamus
- hippopotamusAfrican mammal
Latvian nīlzirgs, hipopotams
- nīlzirgsAfrican mammal
- hipopotamsAfrican mammal
- behemotsAfrican mammal
Lithuanian hipopotamas, begemotas
- hipopotamasAfrican mammal
- begemotasAfrican mammal
- upėarklisAfrican mammal
Malay badak air
- badak airAfrican mammal
Norwegian Bokmål flodhest
- flodhestAfrican mammal
Persian اسب آبی
- اسب آبی (asb-e âbi)African mammal
Polish hipopotam
- hipopotamAfrican mammal
Portuguese hipopótamo
- hipopótamoAfrican mammal
Punjabi ਦਰਿਆਈ ਘੋੜਾ
- ਦਰਿਆਈ ਘੋੜਾ (dariāī ghoṛā)African mammal
Romanian hipopotam
- hipopotamAfrican mammal
Russian гиппопота́м, бегемо́т
- гиппопота́м (gippopotám)African mammal
- бегемо́т (begemót)African mammal
Scottish Gaelic each-aibhne, capall-abhainn
- each-aibhneAfrican mammal
- capall-abhainnAfrican mammal
Slovak hroch
- hrochAfrican mammal
Spanish hipopótamo
- hipopótamoAfrican mammal
Swahili kiboko
- kibokoAfrican mammal
Swedish flodhäst
- flodhästAfrican mammal
Tagalog ipopotamo
- ipopotamoAfrican mammal
Tamil நீரானை
- நீரானை (nīrāṉai)African mammal
Thai ฮิปโปโปเตมัส
- ฮิปโปโปเตมัส (híp-bpoo-bpoo-dtee-más)African mammal
Turkish su aygırı, hipopotam
- su aygırıAfrican mammal
- hipopotamAfrican mammal
Ukrainian гіпопота́м, бегемо́т
- гіпопота́м (hipopotám)African mammal
- бегемо́т (behemót)African mammal
Urdu دریائی گھوڑا
- دریائی گھوڑا (dariyā'ī ghoṛā)African mammal
Vietnamese lợn nước, hà mã
- lợn nướcAfrican mammal
- hà mãAfrican mammal
Welsh afonfarch, hipopotamws
- afonfarchAfrican mammal
- hipopotamwsAfrican mammal
Yiddish היפּאָפּאָטאַם
- היפּאָפּאָטאַם (hipopotam)African mammal
Zulu ingexe, imvubu
- ingexeAfrican mammal
- imvubuAfrican mammal
Cite this entry
hippopotamus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippopotamus
“hippopotamus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippopotamus. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hippopotamus,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippopotamus.
Source: hippopotamus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.