Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several piglike hoofed mammals of the family Tayassuidae, found in North, Central, and South America and having stiff bristles and short, straight tusks.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A kind of swine indigenous to America, belonging to the family Dicotylidæ and the genus Dicotyles. See the technical words.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A pachyderm of the genus Dicotyles.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of the family
Tayassuidae ofmammals from the Americas related topigs andhippos
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun nocturnal gregarious pig-like wild animals of North America and South America
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word peccary.
Examples
-
The Chacoan peccary is specialised for life in semiarid forests and steppes.
Meet peccary # 4 Darren Naish 2006
-
The oldest named peccary is Egatochoerus* from the Upper Eocene of Thailand (Ducrocq 1994), and similarly-aged taxa are known from southern China.
Archive 2006-08-01 Darren Naish 2006
-
The oldest named peccary is Egatochoerus* from the Upper Eocene of Thailand (Ducrocq 1994), and similarly-aged taxa are known from southern China.
Why putting your hand in a peccary’s mouth is a really bad idea Darren Naish 2006
-
However, scientists still aren't sure if the fourth species of peccary is truly unique ... in other news, I'm going to stick my hand in a peccary's mouth.
Why putting your hand in a peccary’s mouth is a really bad idea Darren Naish 2006
-
The Chacoan peccary is specialised for life in semiarid forests and steppes.
Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006
-
They certainly do not represent the heads of mastodons, but we are not ready to say that the peccary is the prototype of these carvings, although the similarity between the glyphs (Pl. 33, figs. 7, 8) and the masks is worthy of note.
-
The fact is, the peccary is a wide "ranger," and frequents either plains or mountains wherever he can find the roots or fruits which constitute his natural food.
The Hunters' Feast Conversations Around the Camp Fire Mayne Reid 1850
-
The peccary, which is the true representative of the wild hog in America -- has the very same habit, and is well-known to be one of the most fatal enemies of the serpent tribe to be found among American animals.
The Hunters' Feast Conversations Around the Camp Fire Mayne Reid 1850
-
It and the peccary are the only two Pachydermata, or thick-skinned animals, indigenous to the southern continent.
The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America William Henry Giles Kingston 1847
-
He said it was a great hunting-place for the Indians in the Fall of the year, and that they came there to hunt the peccary, which is, as you know, a kind of wild boar, and whose flesh is very good eating. "
Lost in the Backwoods Catharine Parr Strickland Traill 1850
sionnach commented on the word peccary
Even-toed ungulate, a kind of sinful pig. An individual peccary will confront a predator, risking its own life, to allow the rest of the group to escape. (a scape-pig, perhaps?)
October 17, 2007
reesetee commented on the word peccary
Interesting, sionnach. My first thought was that the word derived from the same root as that of peccadillo--sinful, sinning, etc. I figured that made sense, thinking of the Biblical driving of evil spirits into pigs. But it turns out the roots aren't related at all--at least not as near as I can figure.
October 17, 2007
sionnach commented on the word peccary
naw, I'm pretty sure the sin connection is entirely spurious. I was just joshin' (gadarene swine notwithstanding).
October 17, 2007
reesetee commented on the word peccary
I figured as much--but I couldn't resist checking. ;-)
October 18, 2007