eland
Americannoun
noun
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a large spiral-horned antelope, Taurotragus oryx, inhabiting bushland in eastern and southern Africa. It has a dewlap and a hump on the shoulders and is light brown with vertical white stripes
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a similar but larger animal, T. derbianus, living in wooded areas of central and W Africa
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of eland
First recorded in 1780–90; from Afrikaans, from Dutch eland “elk” ( Middle Dutch elen, elant ), from early modern German Elen(d), probably from Lithuanian éllenis (now élnis; akin to Old Church Slavonic jelenĭ “stag”) or an Old Prussian equivalent; akin to elk
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They argue that by painting the eland, the San were attempting to harness the antelope’s spiritual powers to summon more of them to appear during a time of scarcity.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024
I thought of the eland that Sacks had seen, as a child, emerging from the ceiling of the cave.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 18, 2019
These include buffalos, chimpanzees, forest elephants, leopards, lions and the icon of this park, the giant eland – an imposing antelope.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 16, 2018
The timber wolf, the bison and the eland all experienced T. R.’s dead aim, although the giant polar bear rug in the otherwise feminine drawing room came courtesy of Robert Peary, the Arctic explorer.
From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2015
“The older brother ran ahead. He came upon a dead eland and immediately cut it up into steaks. ‘How could you be so foolish?’ cried Biri when she saw what he had done.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
"The Ministry will contribute 723 animals comprising 30 hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 100 blue wilderbeast, 300 zebras, 83 elephants and 100 elands," the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said in a statement.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2024
By night, they dined on the meat of elands, impalas, warthogs and other animals in an African safari experience.
From US News ● Sep. 2, 2015
To reach that conclusion, anthropologists began by about brain size and endurance capacity in a variety of mammals, including dogs, guinea pigs, foxes, mice, wolves, rats, civet cats, antelope, mongooses, goats, sheep and elands.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2012
In between stretch 500 miles of open meadow and sparse forest filled with elephants, gazelles, elands, lions and leopards.
From Time Magazine Archive
Herds of elands, buffaloes, and quaggas were scattered here and there, whilst smaller and solitary bucks could be seen, now bounding away from some fancied danger, then grazing on the green and fresh grass.
From Adventures of Hans Sterk The South African Hunter and Pioneer by Drayson, A. W. (Alfred Wilks)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
