Zool. [a. Braz. aï, haï (Fr. aï, hay) repr. the animal’s cry.] A kind of Sloth (Bradypus tridactylus, family Tardigrada, order Edentata) found in South America.
1693. in Phil. Trans., XVII. 851. The American Creature called Ai or Sloth.
1833. Penny Cycl., I. 233. They emit a feeble, plaintive cry, resembling the word Ai, which is the origin of the name they bear among the Europeans settled in America.
1847. Carpenter, Zool., § 241. The Ais or three-toed Sloths … are inhabitants of the dense forests of the tropical portion of South America.
