red deer

Meanings

1. A species of large deer, Cervus elaphus, found in Europe and southwestern Asia.
2. The wapiti or North American elk, Cervus canadensis, a deer species of North America, long believed to be a subspecies of the European red deer.

1. A city in Alberta, Canada, the centre of Red Deer County.

Etymology

A translation of Cree ᐘᐢᑲᓲ ᓰᐱᕀ (waskasoo siipiy, “elk creek”), mistranslated by British fur traders as red deer river after mistaking elk for European red deer. The mistranslated name was used to name the Red Deer River which served as the namesake for the original settlement.