Where does “tapir” come from?

Tapir comes from French tapir, borrowed from Old Tupi tapiira, which influenced Old French tapir, itself derived from Frankish tappijan and tappō, tracing back through Proto-Germanic tappô to Proto-Indo-European deh₂b- and deh₂-.

tapir (English): Any one of the species of large odd-toed...

Definitions

  1. Any one of the species of large odd-toed...

Ancestry of “tapir”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchtapirto hide; tapir
2Middle Frenchtapir—
3Old Frenchtapir—
4Frankishtappijanto close, shut in, lock up
5Frankishtappō—
6Proto-Germanictappôplug; tap
7Proto-Indo-Europeandeh₂p-to sacrifice; to lose
8Proto-Indo-Europeandeh₂-to share, divide

Words derived from “tapir”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European deh₂- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European deh₂p- →Every word from Proto-Germanic tappô →