impala

Etymology

It is borrowed from Zulu impala,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} which Barnhart, Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford write with a hyphen after the prefix.^[7][6][8] The American Heritage Dictionary analyses it, with tone marks, as the noun prefix im- and the stem -pàlà.^[9] Dictionary.com allows that the source may be a related word in another Nguni language.^[10] Etymonline glosses the Zulu word "gazelle".^[6] Barnhart relates it to Tswana phala and Swahili paa (“gazelle”).^[7] The OED and the Shorter Oxford compare pallah, an older South African name for the same antelope, borrowed from the Setswana word.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The African antelope: 1875, in W. H. Drummond's Large Game and Natural History of South and South-East Africa, which spells it impalla and gives roibok as another name.^[2][5][7] Merriam-Webster and Etymonline also date the word to 1875.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

In South African English the antelope had several names: pallah, recorded from 1802 and now rare,^[2][8] and rooibok or red-buck beside impala.^[5] The DSAE records the spellings impalla and mpala and a plural either unchanged or impalas;^[5] Merriam-Webster also gives impallas and impalla.^[3] By the late 19th century hunting writers praised the pallah or impala for its grace, and a travel book of 1937 calls it the red, leaping buck of the bush country.^[5] The animal is known for its great leaps when disturbed.^[11]

Timeline

• 1875 – the antelope, spelled impalla.^[2][5]
• 1888 – the spelling Mpala.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A slender, reddish-brown African antelope, Aepyceros melampus, of the savanna and bush of southern and eastern Africa, the male of which has ridged, lyre-shaped horns; it is noted for its long leaps: A herd of impala scattered as the lion crept closer.^{[11][3][8][5]}

Related words

• pallah
• rooibok

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles, Dictionary Unit for South African English, https://dsae.co.za
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins