oribi, noun

/ɒrɪbi/
Forms:
orabee, orabiShow more Also orabee, orabi, orabie, orbea, orbee, orbie, orebi, oreby, oribe, oribie, ourebi, ourebie.
Origin:
Khoikhoi, NamaShow more Khoikhoi orebi, orabi, oribi, ourebi; cf. Nama !gore-b, !gore-bi.
The small, rare antelope Ourebia ourebi of the Bovidae, an inhabitant of open plains. Also attributive.
1796 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. II. 58I saw the kid caught of a very small and extremely scarce goat, called Orebi...It was of a brown colour.
1801 J. Barrow Trav. I. 138Another species of antelope was here very plentiful, known by the Hottentot name of orabie, which, except in color and size,..bore a considerable resemblance to the steenbok.
1827 T. Philipps Scenes & Occurrences 58The dogs gave chase to and killed an orabi, a very pretty kind of buck.
1827 T. Philipps Scenes & Occurrences 87Before the day was over we had destroyed pheasants partridges orabees.
1835 T.H. Bowker Journal. 10 Feb.Tavers fires right & left at an Orbie and Misses him.
1860 A.W. Drayson Sporting Scenes 60The ourebi (Oreotragus scopariuus): two feet high at shoulder, and four in length; horns annulated, and about five inches long; colour pale tawny, with white belly; female similar, but hornless and smaller.
1880 E.F. Sandeman Eight Months in Ox-Waggon 149Orebi — a small yellow bôk, the best eating of any antelope.
1900 W.L. Sclater Mammals of S. Afr. I. 172The oribi is found chiefly in open grass country and treeless plains.
1923 S. Afr.: Land of Outdoor Life (S.A.R. & H.) 275The oribi, which is practically extinct in Zululand, is also royal game.
1958 R. Collins Impassioned Wind 20An oribi, a little fawn-coloured antelope, darted to one side with the celerity of a frightened hare.
1985 Evening Post 25 Feb. 17The rare East Cape oribi is in danger of extinction with numbers dwindling to 237 scattered in a 10000-hectare area in 1984.
1990 Weekend Post 29 Sept. 6The foothold of the endangered oribi in the Eastern Cape has been strengthened and the numbers on some farms have grown by as much as 51% in two years.
1992 C. Urquhart in Afr. Wildlife Vol.46 No.6, 264The first oribi census carried out in 1981 had revealed that only 251 were left in the Eastern Cape.
The small, rare antelope Ourebia ourebi of the Bovidae, an inhabitant of open plains. Also attributive.
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Khoi Nama and San Languages
ore, plural nounpl. n.orkes, nounn.
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