Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several omnivorous mammals of the genera Nasua and Nasuella of South and Central America and the southwest United States, having a dark or rust coat, a long flexible snout, and a ringed tail.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An American plantigrade carnivorous quadruped, of the family Procyonidæ, subfamily Nasuinæ, and genus Nasua (which see), inhabiting tropical and subtropical regions.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A mammal of tropical America of the genus Nasua, allied to the raccoon, having a ringed tail but with a longer body, tail, and nose; -- called also coati mondi and coati mundi.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of several omnivorous mammals, of the genus Nasua in order Carnivora, that live in the range from southern United States to northern Argentina.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun omnivorous mammal of Central America and South America

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish coatí and Portuguese coati, from Tupí : cua, belt + tim, nose.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old Tupi.

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Examples

  • "I had no clue how to spell the word they threw out," he said, referring to "coati," a tropical American carnivore whose language of origin could not be traced by the judges.

    www.the-daily-record.com's Homepage Articles 2010

  • The coati turned violently on his small constituency, all that remained of his once powerful band.

    The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010

  • "None could have foreseen it, " insisted the coati who led them.

    The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010

  • The coati was conversing rapidly with three of the four raccoons.

    The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010

  • The scarred dandy of a coati in particular looked like a tough customer.

    The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010

  • “I was called away because one of the guests thought she saw an injured coati near one of the trails.”

    NANCY DREW CAROLYN KEENE 2010

  • “I was called away because one of the guests thought she saw an injured coati near one of the trails.”

    NANCY DREW CAROLYN KEENE 2010

  • Though he had been drinking steadily to keep out the cold, sufficient faculties remained to nun to reveal that the coati had been through a difficult time.

    The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010

  • “I was called away because one of the guests thought she saw an injured coati near one of the trails.”

    NANCY DREW CAROLYN KEENE 2010

  • Many days passed in retracing then: difficult route until the coati was convinced the curse of truth had been lifted from him, and true to his promise he remained in the service of the shopowner until the day he died, of an excessive imbibulation of a certain high-proof booze.

    The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010

Comments

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  • A.K.A. "Brazilian weasel," seen here.

    August 26, 2008

  • Well-known to toddlers across North America since featuring in an episode of Diego.

    August 26, 2008