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

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)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oryx oryxes

For example, the scimitar-horned oryx, a light-colored animal with curved horns, had previously been categorized as extinct in the wild but is now endangered.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 11, 2023

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

The Arabian oryx, an antelope native to the Arabian Peninsula, went extinct in the wild in the 1970s and then was reintroduced into the wild from zoo populations.

From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2021

This more or less central area of Bushmanland,—a tract from ten to twelve hundred square miles in extent—was practically the last refuge of the oryx south of the Orange River.

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

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

Who, after all, wanted a flat, trackless desert coated with gravel and hospitable only to a few grazing oryxes, hares and gazelles?

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