Père David's deer
- noun
- /ˈpɛr ˈdeɪvɪdz dɪr/
:
ciervo de Père David
- Conservationists are working to reintroduce Père David's deer into its native habitat.
Examples
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The Père David's deer once roamed the wetlands of China but today lives only in managed reserves.
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A herd of Père David's deer grazed peacefully by the lakeshore at the wildlife park.
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The Père David's deer is an endangered species.
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I saw a Père David's deer at the zoo yesterday.
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A herd of Père David's deer grazed peacefully by the lakeshore at the wildlife park.
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Conservationists are working to reintroduce Père David's deer into its native habitat.
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The Père David's deer once roamed the wetlands of China but today lives only in managed reserves.
Synonyms
A large Chinese deer kept in farms and parks to help it survive
A large Chinese deer now found only in parks and farms, extinct in the wild
Surface Forms
Morphology
Père + David's + deer
The headword contains the literal noun 'deer' and a possessive name, so a B1 learner who knows 'deer' and 'David' would likely infer this refers to a deer associated with or named after someone called David (i.e., an eponymous species). However, the French honorific 'Père' and the specific biological details (Chinese origin, captive survival, unique antlers) are not derivable from the constituents, making the full meaning only partially predictable.
Etymology
The name Père David's deer comes from a French priest called Père Armand David. Père means 'father' in French, and because he sent news and skins of the deer to Europe, people named the animal after him.
