Standard Lemma guide

dassie

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈdæs.i/
  • /ˈdɑs.i/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A small, herbivorous mammal in the order Hyracoidea, the rock hyrax.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The dassie is the closest living relative to the elephant.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hyrax, coney, cony, das

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: placental, placental mammal, eutherian, eutherian mammal

Narrower terms: rock hyrax, rock rabbit, Procavia capensis

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans dassie, from Dutch das (“badger”).

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: dassie — rock hyrax
  • Afrikaans: klipdas — rock hyrax
  • Esperanto: prokaviulo — rock hyrax
  • French: daman — rock hyrax
  • Polish: góralek przylądkowy — rock hyrax
  • Swahili: pelele — rock hyrax
  • Swahili: kwanga — rock hyrax