Meanings
indri1
plural indris
- One of the largest living lemurs (Indri indri), native to Madagascar.
The indri inhabits coastal and montane rainforest from sea level to about 1,800 meters.
1999, Ernest Pillsbury Walker, Ronald M. Nowak, “Avahi, Sifakas, and Indri: Indriiae”, in Walker’s Primates of the World, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 84, column 24 more examples
Indri, the ſecond new genus, conſiſts at preſent but of two ſpecies, the Linnæan lemur indri and the laniger; the former of which is lemur brevicaudatus of Geoffroy [i.e., Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]; and the latter indri longicaudatus of the ſame author.
1819, “LEMUR”, in Abraham Rees, editor, The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature. [...] In Thirty-nine Volumes, volume XX, London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, […], →OCLC, column 2The indris are distuinguished by having only thirty teeth. [...] The Indri (Indris laniger) is the largest known species of the lemurine Quadrumana, measuring when erect more than three feet in height, and is of very remarkable form. [...] The indris inhabit the forests of Madagascar. They are very gentle, and although not remarkable for intelligence, are trained by the natives (who call the indri, "the man of the woods"), to hunt, probably for birds.
[1873], Thomas Rymer Jones, “Order II. Quadrumana. Four-handed Mammals.”, in Mammalia: A Popular Introduction to Natural History, London: Frederick Warne and Co., […]; New York, N.Y.: Scribner, Welford, and Armstrong, →OCLC, family IV (Lemuridæ. The Lemurs.), sub-family IV (Lichanotinæ. The Indris.), page 61The Indri (Indri indri; top left), the largest prosimian at up to three feet long (excluding tail) and 22 pounds, eats plant matter.
1993, Jan Sovak, Zoo Animals Coloring Book (Dover Pictorial Archive Series), New York, N.Y.: Dover Publications, →ISBN, page 20Indris are known for their calls, some of which are truly eerie and can be heard for miles in the dense undergrowth.
2011, William Powell, Ochan Kusuma-Powell, “Knowing Our Collegial Relations”, in How to Teach Now: Five Keys to Personalized Learning in the Global Classroom, Alexandria, Va.: ASCD, →ISBN, page 134
Indri2
- pluralplural onlyA mostly Muslim ethnic group of Western Bahr el Ghazal, South Sudan.
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
nounlarge short-tailed lemur of Madagascar having thick silky fur in black and white and fawn
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Malagasyindry
- Malagasyendrina“the lemur Indri indri”
- Englishindri
Possibly from Malagasy endrina (“the lemur Indri indri”). A common explanation asserts that the word comes from the Malagasy indry (pronounced /ˈiɳɖʐʲ/) meaning “lo!” or “behold!”, or from indry izy (“There he is!”), which guides shouted to the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat (1748–1814) upon seeing the animal, and which Sonnerat mistook for its name, but it has been suggested that Sonnerat studied indris too closely for this story to be plausible.
More words from Malagasy
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic إندري شائع
- إندري شائعIndri indri
Basque indri
- indriIndri indri
Bengali ইন্দ্রি
- ইন্দ্রি (indri)Indri indri
Bulgarian индри
- индри (indri)Indri indri
Catalan indri
- indriIndri indri
Chinese Mandarin 大狐猴
- 大狐猴 (dàhúhóu)Indri indri
Czech indri
- indriIndri indri
Danish indri
- indriIndri indri
Dutch indri
- indriIndri indri
Estonian indri
- indriIndri indri
Finnish indri
- indriIndri indri
French indri
- indriIndri indri
German Indri
- IndriIndri indri
Greek ίντρι
- ίντρι (íntri)Indri indri
Hebrew אינדרי
- אינדריIndri indri
Indonesian indri
- indriIndri indri
Irish indrídigh
- indrídighIndri indri
Japanese インドリ
- インドリIndri indri
Korean 인드리
- 인드리 (indeuri)Indri indri
Norwegian indri
- indriIndri indri
Persian ایندری
- ایندریIndri indri
Polish indris krótkoogonowy, indrys
- indris krótkoogonowyIndri indri
- indrysIndri indri
- babakotoIndri indri
Russian индри
- индри (indri)Indri indri
Slovak indri
- indriIndri indri
Spanish indri
- indriIndri indri
Swedish indri
- indriIndri indri
Thai อินดรี
- อินดรีIndri indri
Ukrainian індрі
- індрі (indri)Indri indri
Urdu اندری
- اندریIndri indri
Cite this entry
indri. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indri
“indri.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indri. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “indri,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indri.
Source: indri on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.