brown hyena
- noun
- /braʊn haɪˈiːnə/
- South African
:
hiena marrón
- The brown hyena is rarely seen during the day, as it is mostly nocturnal.
Examples
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Researchers tracked a brown hyena across the Kalahari Desert to study its behavior.
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Unlike the spotted hyena, the brown hyena has a distinctive shaggy brown coat.
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The brown hyena is often misunderstood.
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Many people have never seen a brown hyena in the wild.
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In the Namib Desert, a brown hyena was spotted searching for food among the rocks.
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The brown hyena is known for its distinctive howl, particularly during the night.
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Visitors to the national park were excited to see a brown hyena scavenging near a watering hole.
Synonyms
A hyena from southern Africa with shaggy dark brown fur that is active at night
A wild animal like a hyena that eats dead animals and lives in southern Africa
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'brown hyena' is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: a hyena that is brown, so the species description (a hyena with a brown shaggy coat and scavenging habits) is directly derivable from 'brown' and 'hyena'. Color+animal constructions are cross-linguistically common and follow normal noun phrase composition, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand the meaning.
Etymology
Brown hyena is a name that describes the animal: brown for its shaggy brown coat and hyena for the type of animal itself. Because it is active at night and often a 'scavenger', the name today means that particular species of hyena.
