Babirussas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Wild pig-like mammals native to Indonesia, the males having long tusks that curve upward through the skin of the snout
2. Indonesian forest swine known for their enormous upward-curving tusks, which can pierce the animal's own face
3. Hoofed wild animals of the islands of Indonesia, distinguished by the strikingly curled tusks grown by the males

Etymology: "Babirussas" is simply the plural of "babirussa," the name for a wild pig native to Indonesia, so the word's real story lives in its singular form. Its ending is a modern English pluralization, the regular "-s" that English adds to most nouns, and it is applied to a term that was itself borrowed from the Malay language, where "babi" means "pig" and "rusa" means "deer." The combination describes an animal that is part pig and part deer, a name that reflects how the creature looks, with its long, curving tusks that seem to grow up through its snout like antlers.