oryx

[awr-iks, ohr-]

noun, plural o·ryx·es, (especially collectively) o·ryx.

a large African antelope, Oryx gazella, grayish with black markings and having long, nearly straight horns: an endangered species.

gemsbok.

Origin of oryx

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek óryx pickax, oryx

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for oryx

Contemporary Examples of oryx

If it is a young man, they should start with Oryx and Crake.
How I Write: Margaret Atwood
Noah Charney
October 10, 2013

Historical Examples of oryx

Aristotle mentions as such the oryx or antelope of northern Africa.
Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery
Robert Means Lawrence
The oryx when hunted does not, like many other antelopes, make for either water or cover.
The Young Yagers
Mayne Reid
The fourth species of oryx is the “algazel,” (Oryx algazella).
The Young Yagers
Mayne Reid
An interesting point occurred in the conversation about the oryx.
The Young Yagers
Mayne Reid
Of course the oryx were also brought up to the camp to be skinned and cut up.
The Young Yagers
Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for oryx

oryx

noun plural -yxes or -yx

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

Word Origin for oryx

C14: via Latin from Greek orux stonemason's axe, used also of the pointed horns of an antelope

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for oryx

late 14c., from Latin oryx, from Greek oryx (genitive orygos) "North African antelope with pointed horns, the digging animal," literally "pick-axe." Used in Greek and Latin bibles to render Hebrew tho, which early English Bibles misidentified as everything from a small hibernating animal to a wild bull.