jabuti

plural jabutis

1. A Brazilian tortoise, especially a yellow-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulatus).

   The deer gave up the race to the jabuti. The deer then offered to have a trial of strength with the jabuti.

   1879, Herbert Huntington Smith, Brazil, the Amazons and the Coast, page 545

   3 more examples

   Again, the rabbit would try harder, run faster, and pass the jabuti once more, but no matter how hard he tried or how fast he ran, when he came around the corner, again and again the jabuti was in the lead.

   1977, Roberta C. Wigder, Brazil Rediscovered, Dorrance Publishing Company

   The Jabuti is identical with Brother Terrapin. The man carried the Jabuti to his house, put him in a box, and went out. By and by the Jabuti began to sing, just as Brother Babbit did. The man's children listened, and the Jabuti stopped.

   1881, Joel Chandler Harris, Nights with Unlcle Remus

   The most popular of all is the jabuti (or Yauti, as it is pronounced in the Tupy language). It is a large turtle, much appreciated as food. Short-legged, slow, weak, and silent, the jabuti in the Amazon tradition is like the fox in the European tales.

   2006(?), Livia de Almeida, Ana Portella, Brazilian Folktales, Libraries Unlimited