Monday, 6 November 2023

When you hear 'tapir' are you hearing English or Tupi?

'Tapir' is a word borrowed from Tupi 'tapyra'. The word entered the English language some time around 1774.


tapir [noun] [1774]
Any of a genus (Tapirus) of herbivorous chiefly nocturnal perissodactyl mammals of tropical America and southeastern ...
See 'tapir' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from Tupi.

Etymology: Portuguese 'tapir' 'tapira' from Tupi 'tapiʔíra'
See more loan words from 1700s.


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