Well attestedNamed through a historical place-name
Rhodesian Ridgeback
noun · first attested 1922
The country in the name is gone: Rhodesia has been Zimbabwe since 1980.
A large southern African hound with a ridge of reversed hair along its spine.
Record
- Relationship
- Named through a historical place-name
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1922
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Zimbabwe
- In English
Rhodesian Ridgeback
The breed standard was drawn up in Bulawayo in 1922, formalizing a cross of European hunting dogs with the ridged dogs kept by Khoikhoi herders. The name preserves Cecil Rhodes in a country that dropped him in 1980, so the dog carries a place no longer on the map.