oryx

American  

[awr-iks, ohr-] / ˈɔr ɪks, ˈoʊr- /

noun

• oryxes,
  plural
• oryx
  plural

1. a large antelope of the genus Oryx, with pale fur and long horns: three species are native to arid regions of Africa, and the fourth inhabits Arabia.

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oryx British  

/ ˈɒrɪks /

noun

1. any large African antelope of the genus Oryx, typically having long straight nearly upright horns

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• oryx
  plural
• oryxes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of oryx

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English orix, from Latin oryx “wild goat, gazelle,” from Greek óryx “iron tool for digging, pickax, gazelle, antelope” (from its sharp horns)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oryx oryxes

Spread across the property were 1,000 sheep, eight Arabian oryx, four horses, two camels and one falcon — what Mr. Al Misned called his working farm — cultivated over the past decade.

From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2022

Mr. Mays maintained a ranch near Spring Branch, Tex., where he kept exotic animals including zebras, kudus, oryx and bongos.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 15, 2022

The haul included some extinct animals, such as the scimitar oryx, and endangered species like lions, cheetahs and the Bengal tiger.

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2022

Przewalski’s horse and the Arabian oryx are among successful examples.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2022

We advanced at a walking pace, for the strength of our horses had to be conserved against that long pursuit which, in hunting the oryx, is almost inevitable.

From Lodges in the Wilderness by W. C. (William Charles) Scully

In the 1990s, he even introduced a herd of scimitar-horned oryxes, as part of a conservation effort to protect the endangered Saharan antelope.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026

And the oryxes, and the Barbary sheep, and the Przewalski’s horses, the giraffes, the dromedary camels and a variety of other hoofed mammals.

From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023

Among the representatives of vanishing species there were Mongolian wild horses, scimitar-horned oryxes, maned wolves, red-crowned and white-naped cranes, Bali mynas, black-footed ferrets, clouded leopards, Eld’s deer and cheetahs.

From New York Times ● Jul. 8, 2013

They sighted four oryxes, lassoed three of them from a specially built car and brought them safely back alive.

From Time Magazine Archive

Yoffe bought three addaxes for $10,000 from a game preserve in New York's Catskills, for example, and three Saharan oryxes cost him $2,500 a head.

From Time Magazine Archive

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