catoblepas

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A legendary creature from Ethiopia, said to have the body of a Cape buffalo, scales on its back, and the head of a wild boar, which always points downward because of its weight.

Pronunciation

/kəˈtɒblɪpəs/ /kæ-/ /-blɛ-/ /-bliː-/ /-pæs/ /ˌkætoʊˈblɛpəs/ /ˌkætoʊˈbliːpəs/ /-tə-/ /ˈkætoʊblɪpəs/

Word forms

catoblepas catoblepae catoblepones

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin catōblepās, from Ancient Greek κᾰτῶβλεψ (kătôbleps), κᾰτωβλέπων (kătōblépōn), κᾰτώβλεπον (kătṓblepon, “down-looker”), from κᾰτᾰβλέπω (kătăblépō, “to look downwards”, from κᾰτᾰ́ (kătắ) + βλέπω (blépō)).

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.