river horse
1
9.9
- noun
- Archaic
- The documentary highlighted the river horse's unique behaviors and its importance to the ecosystem of the river.
Examples
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Hippos, their name derived from an ancient Greek word meaning "river horse," wallow in oxbows, backwaters, and bends, preferring them to the mainstream.
Academic text (2011) -
The river horse, commonly known as the hippopotamus, can often be seen lounging in the shallow waters of African rivers.
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Many locals refer to the river horse as the hippopotamus because of its habitat and large size.
Synonyms
31
1.0
A very large heavy African animal that eats plants and lives in rivers
11
2.3
A very large animal with thick skin that lives near African rivers and eats plants
Surface Forms
Morphology
river + horse
The compound 'river horse' transparently combines 'river' and 'horse' to denote an animal associated with rivers, so a B1 learner knowing both words would reasonably infer it refers to a river-dwelling animal (historically the hippopotamus). This noun+noun composition is compositional and cross-linguistically supported by cognates (e.g. Greek 'hippopotamos'), making the meaning predictable from the parts.
Etymology
The noun river horse comes from a simple image: people long ago saw big animals living in rivers and thought they looked like giant horses in the water. One old language even used words for 'river' and 'horse' to name the animal, so river horse came to mean 'hippopotamus'.