giraffe

英文词源

giraffe

giraffe: [17] The 16th-century name for the ‘giraffe’ was camelopard, a compound of camel and leopard appropriate enough in view of the animal’s long neck and leopard-like spots, but in the 17th century a rival term came on the scene – giraffe. This was borrowed from either French girafe or Italian giraffa, both of which go back to Arabic zirāfah, a word probably of African origin.

giraffe (n.)

long-necked ruminant animal of Africa, 1590s, giraffa, from Italian giraffa, from Arabic zarafa, probably from an African language. Earlier Middle English spellings varied wildly, depending on the foreign source, and included jarraf, ziraph, and gerfauntz, some apparently directly from Arabic, the last reflecting some confusion with olifaunt "elephant."

In Arabye, þei ben clept Gerfauntz; þat is a best pomelee or spotted .. but a lityll more high þan is a stede, But he hath the necke a xxti cubytes long. [Mandeville's Travels, c. 1425]

The modern form of the English word is attested by c. 1600 and is via French girafe (13c.). Replaced earlier camelopard, a compound of camel (for the long neck) and pard (n.1) "leopard" (for the spots).