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A depiction of the antelope (mythical creature) in the Harley Bestiary (1240)
Etymology
The origin is unknown. The word superficially resembles ᾰ̓́νθος(ánthos) + ὤψ(ṓps) and some older authorities suggested this as the etymology,[1] but there is reason to think it is instead a corruption of some other, possibly foreign, word.[2]
There is an animal called antelope, an exceedingly alert animal; until the hunters are unable to approach it. It has long horns in the shape of a saw, so that it is able to saw very large and high trees.
Usage notes
In Greek and other ancient languages refers to a mythical creature, perhaps originally based on reports of the oryx.
Descendants
Some of the descendants have mistakenly read αν-(an-) as αυ-(au-).
^ James Stormonth, Etymological and pronouncing dictionary of the English language (1879), page 20: "(Gr. antholops— from anthos, beauty; ops, the eye), a beautiful creature, partly like a deer and partly like a goat."
^ Michel Desfayes, The Origin of English Names of European Birds and Mammals (2008), page 76: "The name antelope is borrowed from Middle Greek anthólops a fabulous animal described by Eustathius of Antioch who died in 337 (Webster). Given a Greek etymology, the word would mean “flower-shaped” a definition that certainly cannot apply to an animal. there is reason to believe that anthólops is a loan-word and a corruption of a foreign word."
^ Muradyan, Gohar (2005) Physiologus: The Greek and Armenian Versions with a Study of Translation Technique (Hebrew University Armenian Studies; 6), Leuven – Paris – Dudley: Peeters, pages 91, 143
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.