DEER

noun (plural ~; also ~s) Etymology: Middle English, ~, animal, from Old English dēor beast; akin to Old High German tior wild animal, Lithuanian dvasia breath, spirit Date: before 12th century animal , any of numerous slender-legged ruminant mammals (family Cervidae, the ~ family) having usually brownish fur and antlers borne by the males of nearly all and by the females of a few forms, ~like adjective