kangaroo

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“
I had had the idea that the kangaroo was about extinct in Tasmania and well thinned out on the continent.

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Definitions (14)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Any of various herbivorous marsupials of the family Macropodidae of Australia and adjacent islands, having short forelimbs, large hind limbs adapted for leaping, and a long tapered tail.
  2. Word History
    A widely held belief has it that the word kangaroo comes from an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "I don't know.” This is in fact untrue. The word was first recorded in 1770 by Captain James Cook, when he landed to make repairs along the northeast coast of Australia. In 1820, one Captain Phillip K. King recorded a different word for the animal, written "mee-nuah.” As a result, it was assumed that Captain Cook had been mistaken, and the myth grew up that what he had heard was a word meaning "I don't know” (presumably as the answer to a question in English that had not been understood). Recent linguistic fieldwork, however, has confirmed the existence of a word gangurru in the northeast Aboriginal language of Guugu Yimidhirr, referring to a species of kangaroo. What Captain King heard may have been their word minha, meaning "edible animal.”

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Examples (50)

  • They all work like this kangaroo, they bounce. —  Robert Full on engineering and evolution
  • She looked a little like a kangaroo, the way her rear legs kicked up behind her as she ran. —  Lippman, Laura - [Tess Monaghan 02] - Charm City
  • Many of these are clearly different from their relatives on the nearby mainland - the Kangaroo Island kangaroo is a distinct sub-species of the western grey kangaroo, the endangered Glossy-black cockatoo is also an Island sub-species and the Sooty Dunnart (a small marsupial carnivore) is found nowhere else on earth. —  Latest Articles
  • Although the kangaroo is a much-treasured and instantly recognisable Australian emblem, the animals can be destructive and dangerous. —  Environment news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk
  • She had asked for a kangaroo, and Papa had shaken his head doubtfully and said he'd see. —  The Cat in Grandfather's House
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Guugu Yimidhirr (Aboriginal language of northeast Australia) gaŋurru.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Orig. kanguroo, later F.kanguroo: a native Australian name.
  2. kangaroo, n.
 

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/kæŋgəˈru/
by American Heritage
by Lee Davis-Thalbourne

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