caribou

noun

car·​i·​bou ˈker-ə-ˌbü 

ˈka-rə-

plural caribou or caribous

: a large gregarious deer (Rangifer tarandus) of Holarctic taiga and tundra that usually has palmate antlers in both sexes

—used especially for one of the New World

called also reindeer

Illustration of caribou

Examples of caribou in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Biden administration offered 400,000 acres after shaving off one million acres from the original boundaries to avoid areas crucial to the polar bear and Porcupine caribou populations. —Lisa Friedman, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025

Inland caribou populations have declined by 65% over recent decades, according to the report card. —Barbara Moran, NPR, 10 Dec. 2024

The Arctic refuge is home to grizzly bears, polar bears, gray wolves, caribou and more than 200 species of birds and contains land considered sacred by the Gwich’in people. —Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 6 Nov. 2024

This 6-million-acre preserve of land in Alaska is home to a slew of native wildlife, such as grizzly bears and caribou, as well as Denali, the highest summit in North America. —Nile Cappello, AFAR Media, 27 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

earlier caribo, borrowed from Micmac qalipu (phonetically ɣalibu, 17th-18th-century *ɣaribu), agentive derivative of qalipi- "shovel snow," going back to proto-Algonquian *maka·lipi-; so called from its habit of scraping aside snow with its front feet in search of food

First Known Use

circa 1665, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

caribou

noun

car·​i·​bou ˈkar-ə-ˌbü 

plural caribou or caribous

: a large animal of the deer family that is found in cold northern regions

—used especially for one of the New World

called also reindeer

Etymology

from Canadian French caribou "caribou," from Micmac (Indigenous language of northeastern Canada) γalipu