addax

Nov. 17th, 2011 07:19 am
prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (Default)
[personal profile] prettygoodword
addax (AD-aks) - n., a large antelope of northern Africa with spiral horns.


Also known as the screwhorn antelope, which tells you something about its most distinctive feature. Related to the oryx, fwiw. It is probably identifiable as what the ancient Greeks called strepsiceros ("twisted horn") and Deuteronomy 14:5 calls pygarg, one of the kosher animals. English name was borrowed in 1693 from Latin, presumably from a north African language.

---L.

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