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''catoblepas'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260120135603-00-⌔

catoblepas - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

catoblepas (plural catoblepae or catoblepones)

  • A legendary creature from Ethiopia, said to have the body of a Cape buffalo, scales on its back, and the head of a wild boar, which always points downward because of its weight.
    • ✤ Behind them, blindfolded and muzzled, came catoblepones.1
    • ✤ The most obvious curseinflicting monsters that came to mind were Basilisks, Cockatrices, and Catoblepones.2

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin catōblepās, from Ancient Greek κᾰτῶβλεψ (kătôbleps), κᾰτωβλέπων (kătōblépōn), κᾰτώβλεπον (kătṓblepon, “down-looker”), from κᾰτᾰβλέπω (kătăblépō, “to look downwards”, from κᾰτᾰ́ (kătắ) +‎ βλέπω (blépō)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kəˈtɒblɪpəs/, /kæ-/, /-blɛ-/, /-bliː-/, /-pæs/3456
  • IPA: /ˌkætoʊˈblɛpəs/, /ˌkætoʊˈbliːpəs/, /-pæs/, /-tə-/7
  • IPA: /ˈkætoʊblɪpəs/, /-pæs/, /-tə-/8

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

  1. 2019, Joel Puga, The Journeys of the Sorcerer: ↩

  2. 2022, Patora Fuyuhara, In Another World With My Smartphone: ↩

  3. Whitney, William Dwight (1895), The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume 1, The Century Co., retrieved 12 April 2023, page 864 ↩

  4. Ogilvie, John (1871), The Imperial Dictionary, Blackie and Son, page 85 ↩

  5. The National Standard Encyclopedia, A. L. Burt, 1888, page 158 ↩

  6. Crabb’s Handy Cyclopedia, Hurst & Co., 1888, page 104 ↩

  7. Wright, Thomas (1862), The Dictionary-Cyclopædia, for Universal Reference; and a Complete Expositor of the English Language, The London Printing and Publishing Company, Ltd., retrieved 12 April 2023, page 547 ↩

  8. Craig, John (1861), The Universal English Dictionary, retrieved 12 April 2023, page 309 ↩