giraffen.

/dʒɪˈrɑːf/

/dʒɪˈraf/

Forms: α. 1500s gyraffa, 1500s–1800s giraffa. β. 1600s giraf(f)le, gyraff, jarraff, seraph, ziraph, 1600s–1700s giraff, 1500s– giraffe.

Etymology: Ultimately < Arabic zarāfah, whence also Italian giraffa , Spanish girafa , Portuguese girafa , French girafe ; earlier adoptions of the word are found in Old French as giras (plural), orafle and giraffle , in Middle English as gerfaunt n., orafle n.; also Old Spanish azorafa. The forms used by English writers have varied at different periods according to their immediate sources. The Italian form giraffa was common in the 16–17th cent., but some writers of 17th cent. use giraff, apparently following Gesner. The modern giraffe is from French, though the spelling in that language is now girafe. Jarraff and ziraph (17th cent.) are independent adoptions < Arabic or some other Middle Eastern language.

1. A ruminant quadruped found in Africa, remarkable for the length of its neck and legs, and for having its skin spotted like that of a panther; also called camelopard n.

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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Giraffidae > [noun] > Giraffa camelopardalis (giraffe)

camelion1382

cameloparda1398

gerfauntc1400

orafle?a1425

giraffe1594

kameel1839

α.

1594 T. Blundeville Exercises v. ix. f. 259 This beast is called of the Arabians, Gyraffa.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. iii. v. 263 Another beast newly brought out of Affricke..is called..Giraffa by the Italians.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 130/2 Beasts..Such as chew the Cud, and are not Horned, as Camelopard Giraffa.

1805 P. Beckford Familiar Lett. Italy I. xiv. 137 In the Piazza..was once seen a Giraffa alive, sent as a present to Lorenzo dei Medici..in 1487.

1822 tr. C. Malte-Brun Universal Geogr. I. xxi. 526 The Giraffa, or the camel leopard.

β. c1600 Sanderson in Purchas Pilgrims (1625) ii. 1619 The admirablest and fairest beast that euer I saw, was a Iarraff.1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 988 A liue Giraffle (which is a beast like a Cammell and a Panther).1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. vi. 194 Th' horned Hirable [1605 marg. alias, Girafle, 1608 marg. Alias, Gyraffa].1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 4 Their nourishment goeth more forward then backward, like the best horses, and the Arabian Seraph, which are higher before then behinde.1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes ii. 1381 There wee saw a Ziraph speckled white and higher than any beast I had euer seene.1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 205 In Gesner's History of Quadrupeds the Gyraff is..mentioned.1739 E. Browne Brief Acct. Trav. 289 There is likewise in this country the Giraff, an animal capable of striking with wonder the most incurious spectator.1773 Gentleman's Mag. 43 17 Description of the Giraffe, or Camelopardus.1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. iii. 56 The presence..of the giraffe..is always a certain indication of water being within a distance of seven or eight miles.appos.1892 Times (Weekly ed.) 25 Nov. 8/1 There my driver shot a fine giraffe-cow.

2. Astronomy. The constellation camelopard n. 2.

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the world > the universe > constellation > Northern constellations > [noun] > Camelopard

camelopard1836

giraffe1836

1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 191/2 Camelopardalus, the camelopard or giraffe, a constellation formed by Hevelius.

1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens (ed. 3) 320.

3. Mining. (See quots.)

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1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 142 Giraffe, a car of peculiar construction to run on an incline.

a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 400/1 Giraffe, a form of cage or truck used on inclines in mines of the Pacific slope.

†4. A kind of upright spinet.

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1876 in J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms

Compounds

Special combinations.

giraffe acacia n. South African name occasionally used for the camel-thorn tree.

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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun]

acacia1542

babul1696

marblewood1753

black wattle1802

popinac1809

wattlec1810

wattle-treec1810

giraffe tree1815

haakdoring1822

hookthorn1822

kameeldoorn1822

camel-thorn1824

catechu-tree1829

silver wattle1832

blackthorn1833

thorny acacia1834

boobyalla1835

seyal1844

mulga1848

thorn-wood1850

hackthorn1857

mimosa1857

poison tree1857

Port Jackson1857

talha1857

golden wattle1859

whitethorn acacia1860

buffalo thorn1866

nelia1867

siris1874

cassie1876

couba1878

needlebush1884

sallow wattle1884

sally1884

giddea1885

prickly Moses1887

yarran1888

opopanax tree1889

wait-a-while1889

fever tree1893

giraffe acacia1896

stay-a-while1898

brigalow1901

wirra1904

cootamundra1909

Sydney golden wattle1909

witchetty bush1911

rooikrans1917

jam-tree1934

whistling thorn1949

blackthorn1966

1896 H. A. Bryden Tales S. Afr. 44 Groves of giraffe acacia (kameel doorn).

giraffe tree n. = giraffe acacia n.

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