reindeer

/ˌreɪnˈdɪər/

/ˈreɪndɪə/

Other forms: reindeers

A reindeer is a large, hoofed mammal with antlers. Contrary to popular Christmas folklore, reindeer can't really fly. Shhhhh.

The mythological reindeer that pull Santa Claus's sleigh first appeared in print during the nineteenth century in the United States. Real reindeer are found in Northern Europe, North America, and Siberia — although North American reindeer are more often called caribou. In Arctic and Subarctic areas, reindeer are regularly hunted and raised for their meat, milk, and hides. Reindeer comes from a Scandinavian root, similar to the Old Norse hreindyri.

Definitions of reindeer

1. noun

   Arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes; called 'reindeer' in Eurasia and 'caribou' in North America
   synonyms: Greenland caribou, Rangifer tarandus, caribou

   types:

   Rangifer caribou, woodland caribou

   any of several large caribou living in coniferous forests of southern Canada; in some classifications included in the species Rangifer tarandus

   Rangifer arcticus, barren ground caribou

   of tundra of northern Canada; in some classifications included in the species Rangifer tarandus

   type of:

   cervid, deer

   distinguished from Bovidae by the male's having solid deciduous antlers