Père David's deer in British English
noun
a large grey deer, Elaphurus davidianus, surviving only in captivity as descendants of a herd preserved in the Imperial hunting park near Beijing
Word origin
C20: named after Father A. David (died 1900), French missionaryPère David's deer in American English
(ˈpɛər dɑːˈvidz, ˌpɛər ˈdeivɪdz)
noun
a medium-sized, reddish-gray deer, Elaphurus davidianus, of which stocks were obtained in Peking in 1865 and brought to parks in Europe before the remaining Chinese deer were killed in 1900: the species is sustained in captivity
Word origin
[1895–1900; named after Père Armand David (1826–1900), French missionary, the deer's first European observer]This word is first recorded in the period 1895–1900. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Marxism, apothecaries' measure, flamenco, frame of reference, slapstickImage ofPère David's deer
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