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

As well as providing corridors for gray wolves and grizzly bears, low-lying BLM land often makes up the winter pasture for big game species, such as elk, oryx and big-horned sheep.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 31, 2017

The wagon was about twelve miles from where the oryx had fallen.

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

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

Breeding has worked superbly at the Phoenix Zoo, which now contains 29 Arabian oryxes, the largest collection of this species of rare antelope outside their native Saudi Arabia.

From Time Magazine Archive