Etymology
The name "indri" most likely comes from a native Malagasy name for the animal, endrina. An oft-repeated, but probably incorrect story is that the name comes from indry, meaning "there" or "there it is." French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat, who first described the animal, supposedly heard a Malagasy point out the animal and took the word to be its name. The Malagasy name for the animal is babakoto . Babakoto is most commonly translated as "ancestor" or "father", but several translations are possible. "Koto" is a Malagasy word for "little boy", and "baba" is a term for "father", so the word "babakoto" may be translated as "father of a little boy." The father-son dynamic of many of the babakoto origin myths helps to explain the Malagasy name.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
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