Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun, plural e·lands, (especially collectively) e·land.
- either of two large African antelopes of the genus Taurotragus, having long, spirally twisted horns: now rare.
noun
- a large spiral-horned antelope, Taurotragus oryx, inhabiting bushland in eastern and southern Africa. It has a dewlap and a hump on the shoulders and is light brown with vertical white stripes
- giant eland a similar but larger animal, T. derbianus, living in wooded areas of central and W Africa
“large South African antelope,” 1786, from Dutch eland “elk,” from a Baltic source akin to Lithuanian elnias “deer,” from PIE *el- “red, brown” (see elk), cognate with first element in Greek Elaphebolion, name of the ninth month of the Attic year (corresponding to late March-early April), literally “deer-hunting (month).” Borrowed earlier as ellan (1610s, via French), ellend, from the German form of the word.