Babirussa

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A wild pig native to Indonesia, the males of which have tusks that curve upward through the skin of the snout
2. An Indonesian wild swine whose upper tusks grow long and curl back toward the face
3. A rare hoofed mammal of the pig family found on certain Indonesian islands, notable for its strikingly curved tusks

Etymology: The babirussa is a wild pig of Indonesia's islands, and its name is a compound of two Malay words: "babi", meaning pig, and "rusa", meaning deer. The literal sense is "deer-pig," a name that fits the animal's long, thin tusks and slender legs, which can make it look like a cross between the two creatures. The English word was borrowed from French "babiroussa", which in turn was taken from the Malay phrase "babi rusa". European travellers and naturalists encountered the animal in the East Indies and carried the name back, so the word reflects a trade-route vocabulary rather than any classical or European root.