giraffe (English)

Where does "giraffe" come from?

The word 'giraffe' originates from the Classical Persian 'zurnāpā,' which combined terms for a horn and a foot. This term traveled through Arabic into Italian and Middle French before entering English, eventually displacing the older term 'camelopard.' Its deep roots reach back to Proto-Indo-European, reflecting a journey that transformed its ancestral components into the name we use for the tallest animal on land today.

Full etymology tree

• giraffe (English), 'A ruminant, of the genus Giraffa, of the African savannah with long legs and highly elongated neck, making them the tallest living animal; yellow fur patterned with dark spots, often in the form of a network; and two or more short, skin-covered horns, so-called; strictly speaking the horn-like projections are ossicones.'
  • borrowed giraffe (Middle French), 'giraffe (mammal)'
    • borrowed giraffa (Italian), 'giraffe (mammal)'
      • borrowed زُرَافَة (zurāfa) (Arabic), 'giraffe (mammal)'
        • borrowed ܙܪܝܦܐ (zārīp̄ā) (Classical Syriac), 'alternative form of ܙܪܢܦܐ (zarnāp̄ā): giraffe'
          • inherited زُرْنَاپَا (zurnāpā) (Classical Persian)
            • compound زُرْنَا (zurnā) (Classical Persian)
            • compound پَا (pā) (Classical Persian)
              • inherited 𐎱𐎠𐎭 (p-a-d) (Old Persian), 'foot'
                • inherited *pā́dah (Proto-Iranian), 'foot'
                  • inherited *pā́ts (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'foot'
                    • inherited *pṓds (Proto-Indo-European), 'foot'
                      • derived *ped- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to walk, to step'

Direct ancestors

• ḱerh₂- (Proto-Indo-European)
• giraffe (Middle French)
• giraffa (Italian)

Updated June 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris