'Cervus dama' definitions:

Definition of 'Cervus dama'

From: GCIDE
  • Fallow deer \Fal"low deer`\ [So called from its fallow or pale yellow color.] (Zool.) A European species of deer (Cervus dama), much smaller than the red deer. In summer both sexes are spotted with white. It is common in England, where it is often domesticated in the parks. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Cervus dama'

From: GCIDE
  • Deer \Deer\ (d[=e]r), n. sing. & pl. [OE. der, deor, animal, wild animal, AS. de['o]r; akin to D. dier, OFries. diar, G. thier, tier, Icel. d[=y]r, Dan. dyr, Sw. djur, Goth. dius; of unknown origin. [root]71.]
  • 1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • Mice and rats, and such small deer. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • The camel, that great deer. --Lindisfarne MS. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Zool.) A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species, and of related genera of the family Cervid[ae]. The males, and in some species the females, have solid antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually. Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called venison. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The deer hunted in England is Cervus elaphus, called also stag or red deer; the fallow deer is {Cervus dama}; the common American deer is {Cervus Virginianus}; the blacktailed deer of Western North America is Cervus Columbianus; and the mule deer of the same region is Cervus macrotis. See Axis, Fallow deer, Mule deer, Reindeer. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Deer is much used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound; as, deerkiller, deerslayer, deerslaying, deer hunting, deer stealing, deerlike, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • Deer mouse (Zool.), the white-footed mouse ({Peromyscus leucopus}, formerly Hesperomys leucopus) of America.
  • Small deer, petty game, not worth pursuing; -- used metaphorically. (See citation from Shakespeare under the first definition, above.) "Minor critics . . . can find leisure for the chase of such small deer." --G. P. Marsh. [1913 Webster]