[MR] Manatee

[Craig Levin]

It appears that the word manatee first appears in *English* in
1555, and is derived from the Spanish manat{i'}, which, in turn,
is derived from an American Indian word.

I'd say that people knew of them certainly at about the same time
as they knew of such creatures as the turkey, which appears in
heraldry near the end of Elizabeth I's reign.

Pedro
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Craig Levin				Librarians Rule Oook!