Dictionary

okapi en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /oʊˈkɑpi/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ə(ʊ)ˈkɑːpi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /əʊˈkɑːpi/ (General-South-African)

Etymology

Borrowed from Mvuba okapi.

Meanings

1. A ruminant (Okapia johnstoni) found in the rainforests of the Congo, related to the giraffe but with a much shorter neck, a reddish-brown coat, and zebra-like stripes on the hindquarters.
   • I also took out a licence to shoot small game, costing fifty francs, which can be obtained on the spot, and under which I was able to shoot all kinds of game, excepting elephants, chimpanzis, gorillas and okapis. 1922 May, T[homas] Alexander Barns, “To the Game-haunted Solitudes of Ruchuru and Ruindi Plains”, in The Wonderland of the Eastern Congo: The Region of the Snow-crowned Volcanoes, the Pygmies, the Giant Gorilla and the Okapi, London; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 99:
   • [page 498, column 1] [I]n leading them [African Pygmies] back to the forests where they dwelt, I obtained much information from them on the subject of the horse-like animal which they called the "Okapi." […] [page 499, column 1] The coloration of the Okapi is quite extraordinary. […] The hind quarters, hind and fore legs are either snowy white or pale cream color, touched here and there with orange. They are boldly marked, however, with purple-black stripes and splodges, which give that zebra-like appearance to the limbs of the Okapi that caused the first imperfect account of it to indicate the discovery of a new striped horse. 1901 September, Harry [i.e., Henry] H[amilton] Johnston, “The Okapi: The Newly-discovered Beast Living in Central Africa”, in McClure’s Magazine, volume XVII, number 5, New York, N.Y.; London: S[amuel] S[idney] McClure Co., →OCLC, pages 498 and 499:
   • Dr. [Cuthbert] Christy adds his testimony to that of his predecessors in the same quest as to the "invisibility" of the okapi, whose markings and coloration—pace Colonel Theodore Roosevelt—so break up the surface of its large body and long legs as to cause it to fuse with the dark-brown, russet, while and yellow-white of the twigs and stems and leaf-stalks amongst which it moves. He also points out that the hoofs of the okapi are so closely pressed together that the footprint is almost like that of the single-toed donkey. 1915 August 26, H[enry] H[amilton] Johnston, “Life Habits of the Okapi”, in Nature: A Weekly Illustrated Journal of Science, volume 95, number 2391, London: Macmillan and Co.; New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 714, column 1:
   • Personally I esteem it a more fascinating and a more important task to investigate the relations of the Okapi with the Giraffe on the one hand, and its fossil relatives on the other. 1902 November 18, C[harles] I[mmanuel] Forsyth Major, “On a Specimen of the Okapi Lately Received at Brussels”, in Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London, volume I, London: […] [Zoological] Society [of London]; Messrs. Longmans, Green, and Co., […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 344:
   • [O]ne day I quite modestly gave the dimensions of an okapi I had shot in the Lincolnshire fens. The Major turned a beautiful Tyrian scarlet (I remember thinking at the time that I should like my bathroom hung in that colour), and I think that at that moment he almost found it in his heart to dislike me. 1904, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “Reginald’s Christmas Revel”, in Reginald, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 98:

Forms

Coordinates

giraffe

Hypernyms

giraffid

Synonyms

Congolese giraffe · zebra giraffe · forest giraffe

Translations (60)

sl okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · vi hươu đùi vằn (Okapia johnstoni) · sh okàpi (Okapia johnstoni) · it okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · ast ocapi (Okapia johnstoni) · pl okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · ca okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · ka ოკაპი (Okapia johnstoni) · hy օկապի (Okapia johnstoni) · hu okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · io okapio (Okapia johnstoni) · is ókapi (Okapia johnstoni) · as অকাপী (Okapia johnstoni) · yue 㺢㹢狓 (Okapia johnstoni) · syl ꠅꠇꠣꠙꠤ (Okapia johnstoni) · es ocapi (Okapia johnstoni) · af okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · nl okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · sh ока̀пи (Okapia johnstoni) · ko 오카피 (Okapia johnstoni) · lv okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · ja オカピ (Okapia johnstoni) · ms okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · bg окапи (Okapia johnstoni) · sk okapia (Okapia johnstoni) · tr okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · ln mondonga (Okapia johnstoni) · eo okapio (Okapia johnstoni) · id okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · he אוקפי (Okapia johnstoni) · ml ഓകാപി (Okapia johnstoni) · es okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · ca ocapi (Okapia johnstoni) · he אוקאפי (Okapia johnstoni) · hi ओकापी (Okapia johnstoni) · cy ocapi (Okapia johnstoni) · cs okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · el οκάπι (Okapia johnstoni) · ta ஓக்காப்பி (Okapia johnstoni) · tl okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · eu okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · gl ocapi (Okapia johnstoni) · ru ока́пи (Okapia johnstoni) · da okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · nb okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · pt ocapi (Okapia johnstoni) · ro okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · sv okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · lt okapija (Okapia johnstoni) · th โอคาพี (Okapia johnstoni) · uk ока́пі (Okapia johnstoni) · fi okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · sw okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · et okaapi (Okapia johnstoni) · cmn 㺢㹢狓 (Okapia johnstoni) · nn okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · el οκαπία (Okapia johnstoni) · de Okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · fr okapi (Okapia johnstoni) · mg ôkapy (Okapia johnstoni)