Indri meaning

ĭn'drē
A large arboreal lemur (Indri indri) of eastern Madagascar, having very long legs and a rudimentary tail.
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Any of a family (Indriidae) of herbivorous prosimian primates of Madagascar with large eyes and slightly opposable thumbs.
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One of the largest living lemurs, Indri indri.
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Origin of indri

From Malagasy endira (“the lemur Indri indri”). A common myth asserts that the name comes from the word indry (ˈiɳɖʐʲ) “look! there!” which guides shouted to Pierre Sonnerat upon seeing the animal, and which the French naturalist mistook for its name, but Sonnerat studied indris too closely for this story to be plausible.

Sentence Examples

  • INDRI, a Malagasy word believed to mean "there it goes," but now accepted as the designation of the largest of the existing Malagasy (and indeed of all) lemurs.

  • in length, exclusive of the tail, the indri varies considerably in colour, but is usually black, with a variable number of whitish patches, chiefly about the loins and on the fore-limbs.

  • Shoots, flowers and berries form the food of the indri, which was first discovered by the French traveller and naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in 1780.

  • SIFAKA, apparently the name of certain large Malagasy lemurs nearly allied to the Indri but distinguished by their loiig tails, a:id hence referred to a genus apart - Propithecus, of which three species, with several local races, are recognized.

  • We visit the rain forest looking for the largest living lemur, the Indri Indri.

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Words near indri in the Dictionary