eohippus

See also: Eohippus

English

Etymology

Originally a genus name, Eohippus, formed in New Latin, from Ancient Greek ἠώς (ēṓs, “dawn”) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈiːəʊˌhɪpəs/

Noun

eohippus (plural eohippi or eohippuses)

1. An extinct early Eocene mammal, Hyracotherium leporinum, ancestral to the modern horse.
   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 61:

     An eohippus may "evolve" into a horse, but when we say that a society of hunters and gatherers evolves into a farming village, we are using the word "evolves" as a metaphor for a process of directional change.

Hyponyms

• Hyracotherium

Further reading

• eohippus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia