reindeer

English

a reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

Wikispecies

Etymology

From Middle English reyndere, reynder, rayne-dere, from Old Norse hreindýri (“reindeer”), from hreinn (“reindeer”) + dýr (“animal”). Compare Dutch rendier (“reindeer”), German Rentier (“reindeer”), Swedish rendjur (“reindeer”), Danish rensdyr (“reindeer”). Related also to displaced Old English hrān (“reindeer”). Unrelated to rein.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪndɪə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪndɪɹ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪndɪə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: rein‧deer

Noun

reindeer (plural reindeer or reindeers)

1. (plural: reindeer) Any Arctic and subarctic-dwelling deer of the species Rangifer tarandus, with a number of subspecies.

   Santa Claus' sleigh is supposedly pulled by eight reindeer

   • 1768, D[aniel] Fenning, “LAPLAND”, in The Royal English Dictionary; or, A Treasury of the English Language, 3rd improved edition, London: Printed for R. Baldwin, Hawes and Co., T. Caslon, S. Crowder, J. Johnson, Wilson and Fell, Robinson and Roberts, and B. Collins, →OCLC:

     Here is a prodigious number of wild beaſts, as ſtags, bears, wolves, foxes of various colours, martens, hares, glittens, beavers, otters, elk, and rein deer: the latter is leſs than a stag.

   • 2013 March, Nancy Langston, “Mining the Boreal North”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 101, number 2, archived from the original on 13 April 2016, page 98:

     Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.

2. (plural: reindeers, biology) Any species, subspecies, ecotype, or other scientific grouping of such animals.

Hyponyms

• caribou

Santa Claus's reindeer

• Blitzen
• Comet
• Cupid
• Dancer
• Dasher
• Donner
• Prancer
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Vixen

 

Derived terms

• Arctic reindeer (†R. t. eogroenlandicus)
• busk reindeer (R. t. buskensis)
• Finnish forest reindeer (R. t. fennicus)
• Kamchatkan reindeer (R. t. phylarchus)
• mountain reindeer (R. t. tarandus)
• Novaya Zemlya reindeer (R. t. pearsoni)
• reindeer calf
• reindeer corn
• reindeer games
• Reindeer Lake
• reindeer lichen (Cladonia spp.)
• reindeer moss (Cladonia spp.)
• reindeer spitz
• Siberian forest reindeer (R. t. valentinae)
• Siberian tundra reindeer (R. t. sibiricus)
• Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus)
• wild reindeer (R. t. tarandus)

 

Translations

Rangifer tarandus

• Ahtna: udzih
• Ainu: トゥナッカィ (tunakkay)
• Albanian: renë (sq) f
• Aleut: itx̂aygix̂
• Alutor: ӄураӈа (quraŋa)
• Arabic: رَنَة f (rana)
• Armenian: հյուսիսային եղջերու (hy) (hyusisayin eġǰeru)
• Asturian: renu (ast) m
• Atikamekw: atikw
• Azerbaijani: şimal maralı
• Basque: elur-orein
• Belarusian: паўно́чны але́нь m (paŭnóčny aljénʹ)
• Breton: karv-erc'h (br) m, kirvi-erc'h (br) pl
• Bulgarian: се́верен еле́н m (séveren elén), кари́бу m (karíbu) (North America)
• Catalan: ren (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᏧᏴᏢ ᎠᏫ (tsuyvtlv awi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 馴鹿／驯鹿 (zh) (xùnlù)

• Chukchi: ӄораӈы (qoraṇy)
• Cree: ᐊᑎᐦᒄ (atihkw)
• Czech: sob (cs) m
• Danish: ren (da) c, rensdyr (da) n
• Dutch: rendier (nl) n
• Erzya: пучо (pučo)
• Esperanto: rangifero (eo)
• Estonian: põhjapõder (et) (in general), poro (et) (in Eurasia), karibu (in North America)
• Even: ора̇н (orȧn), ора̇н (orȧn)
• Evenki: орон (oron), орон (oron)
• Faroese: reindýr n, reindjór n, reinsdjór n
• Finnish: peura (fi) (species Rangifer tarandus), poro (fi) (semi-domesticated), karibu (fi) (North American subspecies)
• French: renne (fr) m, caribou (fr) m (North America)
• Galician: reno (gl) m
• Georgian: ჩრდილოეთის ირემი (črdiloetis iremi)
• German: Ren (de) n, Rentier (de) n
• Greek: τάρανδος (el) m (tárandos)

  Ancient: τάρανδος m (tárandos)

• Greenlandic: tuttu
• Hindi: रेनडियर (renḍiyar)
• Hungarian: rénszarvas (hu)
• Icelandic: hreindýr (is) n
• Ido: rentiro (io), karibuo (io) (North America)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} rusa kutub
• Ingrian: pohjan oleni
• Interlingua: ren (ia)
• Inuktitut: ᑐᒃᑐ (tokto)
• Inupiaq: tuttu
• Irish: réinfhia m
• Italian: renna (it) f
• Itelmen: ӄора (qora)
• Japanese: トナカイ (ja) (tonakai), 馴鹿 (ja) (となかい, tonakai), 馴鹿 (ja) (じゅんろく, junroku) (rare)
• Kazakh: солтүстік бұғы (soltüstık būğy)
• Ket: сель (selʹ)
• Korean: 순록 (ko) (sullok)
• Latin: tarandrus (la) m, tarandus m
• Latvian: ziemeļbriedis m
• Lithuanian: šiaurinis elnias m
• Lower Tanana: bedzeyh
• Luxembourgish: Rendéier n
• Macedonian: ирвас m (irvas)
• Malay: rusa kutub (ms)
• Manchu: ᠣᡵᠣᠨ
  ᠪᡠᡥᡡ (oron buhū)
• Maori: renetia
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: цаа буга (caa buga), буга (mn) (buga)

• Nanai: оро̄н (orōn)
• Navajo: hakʼaz bįįh
• Negidal: ойон
• Northern Yukaghir: илэ (ile)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: reinsdyr (no) n, rein (no) m

  Nynorsk: reinsdyr n, rein m

• Ojibwe: adik
• Old English: hrān m
• Old Norse: hreinn m
• Oroch: оро
• Oroqen: ɔrɔn, ɔrɔn
• Persian: گوزن شمالی (gavazn-e šomâli)
• Polish: renifer (pl) m anim, karibu (pl) n (North America)
• Portuguese: rena (pt) f, rangífer m, rangífero (pt) m
• Romanian: ren (ro) m
• Russian: се́верный оле́нь (ru) m (sévernyj olénʹ), кари́бу (ru) m (karíbu) (North America)
• Sami:

  Inari: puásui, kodde

  Kildin: пуаз (puaz)

  Lule: boatsoj

  Northern: boazu

  Skolt: puäʒʒ, kââʹreǩ, kåʹdd

  Southern: bovtje, bovtse

• Scottish Gaelic: fiadh Lochlannach m, fiadh-sneachda m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: и̏рва̄с m, со̏б m, северни јелен m, сјеверни јелен m

  Roman: ȉrvās (sh) m, sȍb (sh) m, severni jelen m, sjeverni jelen m

• Slovak: sob m
• Slovene: severni jelen (sl) m
• Spanish: reno (es) m, rangífero m, caribú m (North America)
• Swahili: kulungu aktiki m, mbawala aktiki f
• Swedish: ren (sv) c, rendjur c
• Tagalog: reno
• Tanacross: wudzih
• Thai: กวางเรนเดียร์ (th) (gwaang rayn-dia), เรนเดียร์ (th) (rayn-dia)
• Turkish: Ren geyiği (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: سیبر صیغینی (Siber sığını, literally “Siberian deer”)

• Tuvan: иви (ivi)
• Udihe: оро, оло
• Ukrainian: півні́чний оле́нь m (pivníčnyj olénʹ)
• Ulch: оро
• Vietnamese: tuần lộc (vi)
• Welsh: carw Llychlyn m

Verb

reindeer (third-person singular simple present reindeers, present participle reindeering, simple past and past participle reindeered)

1. To herd or farm reindeer

Further reading

• reindeer on Wikipedia.Wikipedia