reindeer en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈɹæɪndiə/ (New-Zealand)
- /ˈɹæɪndɪə/ (Australia)
- /ˈɹɛjndɪjə/ (British, Southern, Standard)
- /ˈɹeɪndɪɹ/ (General-American)
- /ˈɾeindiːə/ (Wales) without the pane–pain merger
- /ˈɹɛjndɪː/ (British, Southern, Standard)
- /ˈɾendiɾ/ (Scotland)
- (General-American) audio
- /ˈɹeɪndɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English reyndere, reynder, rayne-dere, from Old Norse hreindýri (“reindeer”), from hreinn (“reindeer”) + dýr (“animal”). Compare Dutch rendier (“reindeer”), German Rentier (“reindeer”), Swedish rendjur (“reindeer”), Danish rensdyr (“reindeer”) and French renne (“reindeer”). Related also to displaced Old English hrān (“reindeer”). Unrelated to rein.
Meanings
-
(plural) Any Arctic and subarctic-dwelling deer of the species Rangifer tarandus, with a number of subspecies.
Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.
2013 March, Nancy Langston, “Mining the Boreal North”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 13 Apr 2016, page 98:Santa Claus' sleigh is supposedly pulled by nine reindeer
The rein-deer, which in Scandinavia can scarcely exist to the south of the sixty-fifth parallel, descends, in consequence of the greater coldness of the climate, to the fiftieth degree, in Chinese Tartary, and often roves into a country of more southern latitude than any part of England.
1832, Charles Lyell, chapter VI, in Principles of Geology: Being an Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface, by Reference to Causes Now in Operation, volume II, London: John Murray, →OCLC, page 94:Herds of wandering reindeer are frequently seen, and may even hold up the train while they cross the unfenced line to reach their feeding grounds.
1958 December 14, M. D. Greville and H. A. Vallance, “Sweden's Inland Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 829:Here is a prodigious number of wild beaſts, as ſtags, bears, wolves, foxes of various colours, martens, hares, glittens, beavers, otters, elk, and rein deer: the latter is leſs than a stag.
1768, D[aniel] Fenning, “LAPLAND”, in The Royal English Dictionary; or, A Treasury of the English Language, 3rd improved edition, London: Printed for R. Baldwin, Hawes and Co., T. Caslon, S. Crowder, J. Johnson, Wilson and Fell, Robinson and Roberts, and B. Collins, →OCLC:
- (plural) Any species, subspecies, ecotype, or other scientific grouping of such animals.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| reindeer | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| reindeers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
carideer · Kamchatkan reindeer · busk reindeer · Reindeer Lake · Finnish forest reindeer · Arctic reindeer · cow reindeer · mountain reindeer · wild reindeer · reindeer calf · reindeer moss · Svalbard reindeer · reindeer spitz · Novaya Zemlya reindeer · Siberian forest reindeer · Siberian tundra reindeer · reindeer corn · reindeer lichen · reindeer games
Hyponyms
Donner (Santa Claus's reindeer) · caribou · Blitzen (Santa Claus's reindeer) · Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Santa Claus's reindeer) · Prancer (Santa Claus's reindeer) · Dancer (Santa Claus's reindeer) · Comet (Santa Claus's reindeer) · Vixen (Santa Claus's reindeer) · Cupid (Santa Claus's reindeer) · Dasher (Santa Claus's reindeer)
Translations (147)
grc τάρανδος (Rangifer tarandus) · fr renne (Rangifer tarandus) · myv пучо (Rangifer tarandus) · es rangífero (Rangifer tarandus) · et põhjapõder (Rangifer tarandus) · tyv иви (Rangifer tarandus) · sh и̏рва̄с (Rangifer tarandus) · ket сель (Rangifer tarandus) · fi karibu (Rangifer tarandus) · lt šiaurinis elnias (Rangifer tarandus) · vi tuần lộc (Rangifer tarandus) · tr Ren geyiği (Rangifer tarandus) · fo reindjór (Rangifer tarandus) · ude оро (Rangifer tarandus) · de Rentier (Rangifer tarandus) · sw mbawala aktiki (Rangifer tarandus) · br karv-erc'h (Rangifer tarandus) · sh сјеверни јелен (Rangifer tarandus) · sh sjeverni jelen (Rangifer tarandus) · cs sob (Rangifer tarandus) · mnc ᠣᡵᠣᠨ ᠪᡠᡥᡡ (Rangifer tarandus) · pt rangífero (Rangifer tarandus) · gl reno (Rangifer tarandus) · kk солтүстік бұғы (Rangifer tarandus) · sq renë (Rangifer tarandus) · cmn 馴鹿 /驯鹿 (Rangifer tarandus) · az şimal maralı (Rangifer tarandus) · ja トナカイ (Rangifer tarandus) · kl tuttu (Rangifer tarandus) · ckt ӄораӈы (Rangifer tarandus) · es reno (Rangifer tarandus) · it renna (Rangifer tarandus) · taa bedzeyh (Rangifer tarandus) · lv ziemeļbriedis (Rangifer tarandus) · ang hrān (Rangifer tarandus) · sh ȉrvās (Rangifer tarandus) · sh северни јелен (Rangifer tarandus) · eo rangifero (Rangifer tarandus) · mn буга (Rangifer tarandus) · fi peura (Rangifer tarandus) · fi poro (semi-domesticated) (Rangifer tarandus) · de Ren (Rangifer tarandus) · bg се́верен еле́н (Rangifer tarandus) · gld оро̄н (Rangifer tarandus) · ja 馴鹿 (Rangifer tarandus) · mi renetia (Rangifer tarandus) · io rentiro (Rangifer tarandus) · sma bovtje (Rangifer tarandus) · oac оро (Rangifer tarandus) · ale itx̂aygix̂ (Rangifer tarandus) · izh pohjan oleni (Rangifer tarandus) · pot adik (Rangifer tarandus) · nn reinsdyr (Rangifer tarandus) · lb Rendéier (Rangifer tarandus) · atj atikw (Rangifer tarandus) · sv rendjur (Rangifer tarandus) · eve ора̇н (Rangifer tarandus) · ar رَنَة (Rangifer tarandus) · sk sob (Rangifer tarandus) · hi रेनडियर (Rangifer tarandus) · hu rénszarvas (Rangifer tarandus) · orh ɔrɔn (Rangifer tarandus) · pt rangífer (Rangifer tarandus) · ja 馴鹿 (Rangifer tarandus) · la tarandus (Rangifer tarandus) · ulc оро (Rangifer tarandus) · non hreinn (Rangifer tarandus) · fo reindýr (Rangifer tarandus) · ca ren (Rangifer tarandus) · eu elur-orein (Rangifer tarandus) · uk півні́чний оле́нь (Rangifer tarandus) · oj adik (Rangifer tarandus) · et karibu (Rangifer tarandus) · ko 순록 (Rangifer tarandus) · br kirvi-erc'h (Rangifer tarandus) · he אַיַּל הַצָּפוֹן (Rangifer tarandus) · iu ᑐᒃᑐ (Rangifer tarandus) · gd fiadh-sneachda (Rangifer tarandus) · mk ирвас (Rangifer tarandus) · neg ойон (Rangifer tarandus) · jv kidang kutub (Rangifer tarandus) · mn цаа буга (Rangifer tarandus) · nb rein (Rangifer tarandus) · da rensdyr (Rangifer tarandus) · sms kåʹdd (Rangifer tarandus) · sma bovtse (Rangifer tarandus) · io karibuo (Rangifer tarandus) · eo norda cervo (Rangifer tarandus) · th กวางเรนเดียร์ (Rangifer tarandus) · sv ren (Rangifer tarandus) · nl rendier (Rangifer tarandus) · cr ᐊᑎᐦᒄ (Rangifer tarandus) · ain トゥナッカィ (Rangifer tarandus) · ga réinfhia (Rangifer tarandus) · tcb wudzih (Rangifer tarandus) · sh severni jelen (Rangifer tarandus) · smn kodde (Rangifer tarandus) · et poro (in Eurasia) (Rangifer tarandus) · cy carw Llychlyn (Rangifer tarandus) · sms puäʒʒ (Rangifer tarandus) · fa گوزن شمالی (Rangifer tarandus) · ik tuttu (Rangifer tarandus) · el τάρανδος (Rangifer tarandus) · enm reynder (Rangifer tarandus) · ro ren (Rangifer tarandus) · pl karibu (Rangifer tarandus) · ast renu (Rangifer tarandus) · th เรนเดียร์ (Rangifer tarandus) · nb reinsdyr (Rangifer tarandus) · la tarandrus (Rangifer tarandus) · eo boaco (Rangifer tarandus) · smj boatsoj (Rangifer tarandus) · bg кари́бу (Rangifer tarandus) · sms kââʹreǩ (Rangifer tarandus) · ru се́верный оле́нь (Rangifer tarandus) · sh со̏б (Rangifer tarandus) · smn puásui (Rangifer tarandus) · pt rena (Rangifer tarandus) · da ren (Rangifer tarandus) · ude оло (Rangifer tarandus) · aht udzih (Rangifer tarandus) · sl severni jelen (Rangifer tarandus) · he אייל הצפון (Rangifer tarandus) · chr ᏧᏴᏢ ᎠᏫ (Rangifer tarandus) · is hreindýr (Rangifer tarandus) · sjd пуаз (Rangifer tarandus) · fr caribou (Rangifer tarandus) · nn rein (Rangifer tarandus) · ia ren (Rangifer tarandus) · pl renifer (Rangifer tarandus) · tl reno (Rangifer tarandus) · gd fiadh Lochlannach (Rangifer tarandus) · hy հյուսիսային եղջերու (Rangifer tarandus) · sw kulungu aktiki (Rangifer tarandus) · evn орон (Rangifer tarandus) · ka ჩრდილოეთის ირემი (Rangifer tarandus) · be паўно́чны але́нь (Rangifer tarandus) · sh sȍb (Rangifer tarandus) · ykg илэ (Rangifer tarandus) · alr ӄураӈа (Rangifer tarandus) · fo reinsdjór (Rangifer tarandus) · se boazu (Rangifer tarandus) · es caribú (Rangifer tarandus) · ru кари́бу (Rangifer tarandus) · krl petra (Rangifer tarandus) · itl ӄора (Rangifer tarandus) · ms rusa kutub (Rangifer tarandus)