cervus dama

2 definitions found

cervus dama - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Deer \Deer\ (d[=e]r), n. sing. & pl. [OE. der, deor, animal,
     wild animal, AS. de['o]r; akin to D. dier, OFries. diar, G.
     thier, tier, Icel. d[=y]r, Dan. dyr, Sw. djur, Goth. dius; of
     unknown origin. [root]71.]
     1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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              Mice and rats, and such small deer.   --Shak.
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              The camel, that great deer.           --Lindisfarne
                                                    MS.
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     2. (Zool.) A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species,
        and of related genera of the family Cervid[ae]. The
        males, and in some species the females, have solid
        antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually.
        Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called
        venison.
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     Note: The deer hunted in England is Cervus elaphus, called
           also stag or red deer; the fallow deer is Cervus dama
           ; the common American deer is Cervus Virginianus
           ; the blacktailed deer of Western North
           America is Cervus Columbianus; and the mule deer of
           the same region is Cervus macrotis. See Axis,
           Fallow deer, Mule deer, Reindeer.
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     Note: Deer is much used adjectively, or as the first part of
           a compound; as, deerkiller, deerslayer, deerslaying,
           deer hunting, deer stealing, deerlike, etc.
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     Deer mouse (Zool.), the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus  leucopus
        , formerly Hesperomys leucopus) of America.
  
     Small deer, petty game, not worth pursuing; -- used
        metaphorically. (See citation from Shakespeare under the
        first definition, above.) "Minor critics . . . can find
        leisure for the chase of such small deer." --G. P. Marsh.
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  Fallow deer \Fal"low deer`\ [So called from its fallow or pale
     yellow color.] (Zool.)
     A European species of deer (Cervus dama), much smaller than
     the red deer. In summer both sexes are spotted with white. It
     is common in England, where it is often domesticated in the
     parks.
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