Arabian oryx

[ uh-rey-bee-uhn awr-iks ]

noun

, plural A·ra·bi·an o·ryx·es, (especially collectively) A·ra·bi·an o·ryx.

1. a large antelope, Oryx leucoryx, the smallest of the oryxes, with a white coat, conspicuous shoulder bump, and nearly straight horns that can reach a length of 30 inches (76 centimeters) on both the males and females: the only oryx native to Arabia rather than Africa, in 2011 it became the first animal to have rebounded to a status of vulnerable after having been classified, in 1972, as extinct in the wild.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Arabian oryx¹

First recorded in 1900–05