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deer

noun

  1. family of mammals
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Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /dɪə/ / /dɪɹ/ / /diːɹ/

name

Etymology: Probably from Pictish *deru (“oak”), from Proto-Brythonic *dar.

  1. Villages in Aberdeenshire, Scotland: See New Deer and Old Deer.
  2. A township in Roseau County, Minnesota, United States.
  3. An unincorporated community in Osage County, Missouri, United States.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English der, deer (“animal, deer”), from Old English dēor (“animal”), from Proto-West Germanic *deuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewsóm (“living thing”), from *dʰéws (“breath”), full-grade derivative of *dʰwes-. Cognate with Scots deer (“deer”), North Frisian dier (“animal, beast”), West Frisian dier (“animal, beast”), Dutch dier (“animal, beast”), German Low German Deer, Deert (“animal”), German Tier (“animal, beast”), Swedish djur (“animal, beast”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk dyr (“animal, beast”), Icelandic dýr (“animal, beast”). Related also to Albanian dash (“ram”) (possibly), Lithuanian daũsos (“upper air; heaven”), Lithuanian dùsti (“to sigh”), Russian душа́ (dušá, “breath, spirit”), Lithuanian dvė̃sti (“to breathe, exhale”), Sanskrit ध्वंसति (dhvaṃsati, “he falls to dust”). For the semantic development compare Latin animālis (“animal”), from anima (“breath, spirit”).

  1. A ruminant mammal with hooves and often antlers, of the family Cervidae, or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla, such as the musk deer or mouse deer.

    Deer sperm was in used among the Romans as an aphrodisiac.

    Musk Deer (Moschus moschiferus) The musk deer is unique in several ways, reflecting its taxonomic separation from other deer (Flerov, 1952). For example , they are the only deer to possess a gall bladder[…]

  2. A ruminant mammal with hooves and often antlers, of the family Cervidae, or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla, such as the musk deer or mouse deer.

    Nara and its deer are so closely associated that the light-brown colored animals are pictured in the city’s tourism ads, on buses, train tickets and more.

  3. A ruminant mammal with hooves and often antlers, of the family Cervidae, or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla, such as the musk deer or mouse deer.

    I wrecked my car after a deer ran across the road.

    Sure, most of us hunt deer around here, but not many of us have ever hunted moose.

  4. The meat of such an animal, obtained through the process of hunting or from specialized deer farms; venison.

    I'd never had deer before I ate dinner with the Johanssens. In time I learned to like it; its gaminess is an acquired taste.

  5. Any animal, especially a quadrupedal mammal as opposed to a bird, fish, etc.

    But mice and rats and such small deer, have been Tom's food for seven long year.