ETYM Icel. hreinn reindeer + Eng. deer. Icel. hreinn is of Lapp or Finnish origin; cf. Lappish reino pasturage.
Or caribou; Deer Rangifer tarandus of Arctic and subarctic regions, common to North America and Eurasia. About 120 cm/4 ft at the shoulder, it has a thick, brownish coat and broad hooves well adapted to travel over snow. It is the only deer in which both sexes have antlers; these can grow to 150 cm/5 ft long, and are shed in winter.
The Old World reindeer have been domesticated by the Lapps of Scandinavia for centuries. There are two types of North American caribou: the large woodland caribou of the more southerly regions, and the barren-ground caribou of the far north. Reindeer migrate south in winter, moving in large herds. They eat grass, small plants, and lichens.
Any ruminant of the genus Rangifer, of the deer family, found in the colder parts of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and having long, irregularly branched antlers, with the brow tines palmate.