Standard Lemma guide

wapiti

noun · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈwɑpɪti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: W AH0 P IY1 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The American elk (Cervus canadensis).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Canada, US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: elk, red deer, wawaskeesh

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

common deer of temperate Europe and Asia

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: red deer, elk, American elk, Cervus elaphus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: deer, cervid

Narrower terms: hart, stag, hind, brocket

3

noun

Meaning 3

large North American deer with large much-branched antlers in the male

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: elk, American elk, Cervus elaphus canadensis

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: deer, cervid

History

Etymology

From Shawnee waapiti (“elk; white rump”).

Across languages

Translations

49 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Western Apache: bį́į́h naldee' — the American elk
  • Blackfoot: ponoká — the American elk
  • Bulgarian: канадски елен (kanadski elen) — the American elk
  • Cherokee: ᎠᏫ ᎡᏆ (awi equa) — the American elk
  • Cheyenne: mo'éhe — the American elk
  • Chinese Mandarin: 加拿大馬鹿 /加拿大马鹿 (Jiānádà mǎlù) — the American elk
  • Plains-Cree: wâwâskesiw — the American elk
  • Dutch: wapiti — the American elk
  • Dutch: wapitihert — the American elk
  • Esperanto: kanada cervo — the American elk
  • Estonian: vapiti — the American elk
  • Finnish: vapiti — the American elk
  • Finnish: kanadanhirvi — the American elk
  • French: wapiti — the American elk
  • German: Wapiti — the American elk
  • Greek: μεγάλο ελάφι (megálo eláfi) — the American elk
  • Greek: μεγάλη έλαφος (megáli élafos) — the American elk
  • Greenlandic: tuttu — the American elk
  • Hawaiian: ʻēleka — the American elk
  • Hindi: गोज़न (gozan) — the American elk
  • Hungarian: vapiti — the American elk
  • Irish: vaipití — the American elk
  • Italian: vapiti — the American elk
  • Korean: 와피티사슴 (wapitisaseum) — the American elk
  • Lakota: heȟáka — the American elk
  • Macedonian: се́верен е́лен (séveren élen) — the American elk
  • Michif: biche — the American elk
  • Navajo: dzééh — the American elk
  • Osage: 𐓪́𐓬𐓸𐓘͘ (ópxą) — the American elk
  • Polish: wapiti — the American elk
  • Portuguese: uapiti — the American elk
  • Portuguese: wapiti — the American elk
  • Romanian: wapiti — the American elk
  • Russian: оле́нь (olénʹ) — the American elk
  • Russian: благоро́дный оле́нь (blagoródnyj olénʹ) — the American elk
  • Russian: настоя́щий оле́нь (nastojáščij olénʹ) — the American elk
  • Russian: вапити (vapiti) — the American elk
  • Spanish: uapití — the American elk
  • Spanish: wapití — the American elk
  • Swedish: wapiti — the American elk
  • Swedish: wapitihjort — the American elk
  • Swedish: vapiti — the American elk
  • Tagalog: wapiti — the American elk
  • Tewa: taa — the American elk
  • Tibetan: ཤྭ་བ་རྔ་རིང (shwa ba rnga ring) — the American elk
  • Tsimshian: łioon — the American elk
  • Unami: mus — the American elk
  • Welsh: wapiti — the American elk
  • Zazaki: wapiti — the American elk