kouprey

[ koo-prey ]

noun

, plural kou·preys, (especially collectively) kou·prey.

1. a wild ox, Bos sauveli, weighing as much as 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms), with long legs, a humped back, and distinctive horns that arch forward on the male and spiral upward on the female: once known to inhabit the forests of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, the kouprey may have survived only in Cambodia and is now classified as possibly extinct.

kouprey

/ ˈkuːpreɪ /

noun

1. a large wild member of the cattle tribe, Box sauveli , of SE Asia, having a blackish-brown body and white legs: an endangered species

Word History and Origins

Origin of kouprey¹

First recorded in 1935–40; from French, from spoken Khmer ko:prey (written gō brai ), from Pali gō “cow” + Khmer brai “forest”

Word History and Origins

Origin of kouprey¹

C20: from French, from a Cambodian native name, from Pali gō cow + Khmer brai forest