pachyderm

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The Word of the Day for May 30 is:

pachyderm   \PAK-ih-derm\   noun 
     : any of various nonruminant mammals (as an elephant, a 
rhinoceros, or a hippopotamus) of a former group (Pachydermata) 
that have hooves or nails resembling hooves and usually thick 
skin;  especially : elephant

Example sentence:
     "The archetypal Seuss hero . . . was Horton, a 
conscientious pachyderm who was duped by a lazy bird into 
sitting on her egg." (Eric Pace, _The New York Times_, September 
26, 1991)

Did you know?
     "Pachydermos" in Greek means literally "having thick skin" 
(figuratively, it means "dull" or "stupid"). It's from "pachys," 
meaning "thick," and "derma," meaning "skin." In the late 1700s 
the French naturalist Georges Cuvier adapted the Greek term 
as "pachyderme" and used it for any one of a whole assemblage of 
hoofed animals having thickish skin: elephants, hippopotamuses, 
rhinoceroses, tapirs, horses, pigs, and more. English speakers 
learned the word from French in the early 1800s. The 
adjective "pachydermatous" means "relating to the pachyderms" 
or "thickened" (referring to skin). Not too surprisingly, it 
also means "callous" or "insensitive" (somewhat unfairly to 
elephants, which are actually known to be rather sensitive).