blesbuck, noun

/ˈblesbʌk/
Forms:
Also bless-buck.
Plurals:
unchanged, or blesbucks.
Origin:
Partial translation of South African Dutch blesbok.
blesbok. Also attributive.
1839 W.C. Harris Wild Sports 289Large troops of bles-bucks, or white-faced antelopes, a pied species that we had rarely met with before.
1840 C.A. Kinloch in Echo 26 Oct. 2We halted a couple of days between the Riet and the Caffer River, in order to hunt the Gnoo and the Blesbuck (Gazella Albifrons) which we found in large herds.
1857 T. Shone Diary. 26 Sept.I went to A. Forbes, paid for A Bless Buck skin 14/-.
1879 R.J. Atcherley Trip to Boërland 73The bless-buck..is so named on account of the white mark or ‘blaze’ upon the face.
1891 R. Ward Sportsman’s Handbk 123In the..Orange Free State and the Transvaal, herds of Blesbucks, Springbucks, and Black Wildebeests, are still to be met with.
1900 P.J. Du Toit Diary (1974) 10First excitement. Bles-buck. What fun! a troop of about 40 were coming towards us...A regular volley was fired in amongst them knocking over four besides wounding several other and a donkey.
c1936 S. & E. Afr. Yr Bk & Guide 1083The Blesbusk (D. albifrons; Dutch, blesbok). Height about 39 inches; colour and shape very similar to that of the bontebuck, but white markings less acute excepting on the face, which shows a prominent, pure white blaze, whence the name.
1948 H.C. Bosman in L. Abrahams Unto Dust (1963) 140A four-ounce linen bag with the picture on it of a leaping blesbuck — the trade-mark of a well-known tobacco company.
1971 Farmer’s Weekly 12 May 11Because of the strong resemblance between the Bontebok and the Blesbuck..early writers often confused the two species.
1992 S. Afr. Panorama Mar.–Apr. 50 (caption)Perfect harmony — blesbuck (Damaliscus dorcas phillipsi) and impala (Aepyceros melampus) grazing on a hillside.
blesbok. Also attributive.
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Mammals
blesbok, nounn.bleshoender, nounn.
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