Etymology of the giraffe

Etymology

The name “giraffe” has its earliest known origins in the Arabic word zarāfah (زرافة),[2] perhaps borrowed from the animal’s Somali name geri.[3]

The Arab name is translated as “fast-walker”.[4] In early Modern English the spellings jarraf and ziraph were used, probably directly from the Arabic,[5] and in Middle English orafle and gyrfaunt, gerfaunt. The Italian form giraffa arose in the 1590s.

The modern English form developed around 1600 from the French girafe.[2]

“Camelopard” /kəˈmɛləˌpɑːrd/ is an archaic English name for the giraffe; it derives from the Ancient Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis), from κάμηλος (kámēlos), “camel”, and πάρδαλις (párdalis), “leopard”, referring to its camel-like shape and leopard-like colouration.[6][7]