antelope

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæn.tɪ.ləʊp/ (UK); /ˈæn.tɪ.loʊp/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English antelope (“a heraldic beast”),^[2][3] probably borrowed from Old French antelop (“savage beast with saw-like horns”),^[2][4][5][3] from Medieval Latin antalopus, anthalopus,^[2][4][5][3] from Ancient Greek ἀνθόλοψ (anthólops), used by Eustathius of Antioch in the 4th century of a fabulous beast.^[2][4][5][6] Its original sense and language are unknown;^[5][6][7][8] Klein suggests “flower eye”, from ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”) and ὤψ (ṓps, “eye”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A picture of a beast on a coat of arms (about 1417 in Barnhart; c. 1430 in the OED; early 15th century in Etymonline).^[4][10][5]

Semantic evolution

In medieval lore the antelope was a fierce, hard-to-catch creature living by the Euphrates, with long saw-like horns that could cut down trees,^[5][4][11] and it was often shown in heraldry.^[11][2] Spenser writes of “the antelope and wolf both fierce and fell”.^[7] About 1600 zoologists applied the name to a real, deerlike animal,^[5][4][11] and modern French antilope was borrowed back from English.^[4][9][7] In the western United States the name is used of the pronghorn.^[5][3]

Timeline

• c. 1417 – a heraldic beast.^[4]
• c. 1430 – first quotation in the OED.^[10]
• 1607 – the deerlike mammal.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various swift, slender ruminant mammals of the family Bovidae, chiefly of Africa and Asia, with hollow, permanent horns directed upward and backward, such as the gazelle and impala.
2. An animal that resembles a true antelope, such as the pronghorn.
3. Leather made from antelope hide.

Word family

• sable antelope
• Tibetan antelope
• goat antelope
• harnessed antelope

Related words

• gazelle
• impala
• eland

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press