gnu

gnu

See also: Gnu, GNU, gnú, and gnû

English

a few gnus

Etymology

Taken from Khoekhoe ǃnu:, likely onomatopoeic of the grunt-type noise of the gnu.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /njuː/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /njuː/, /ɡəˈnuː/[1], /ɡəˈnjuː/[1]

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /nuː/, /njuː/
• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophones: new, nu, knew, GNU (UK)

Noun

gnu (plural gnus or gnu)

1. A large antelope of the genus Connochaetes, native to Africa, having curved horns.

   Synonym: wildebeest

Usage notes

• Pronunciation with initial /ɡ/ popularized as a joke, in particular through The Gnu Song.[2][3]

Translations

large antelope of the genus Connochaetes

Afrikaans: wildebees (af) Assamese: নু পহু (nu pohu) Asturian: ñu m Azerbaijani: qnu Bulgarian: гну (gnu) Catalan: nyu m Chinese: Mandarin: 牛羚 (niúlíng), 角馬／角马 (jiǎomǎ) Czech: pakůň (cs) m Danish: gnu (da) c Dutch: gnoe (nl) m Esperanto: gnuo Faroese: gnýur m Finnish: gnu (fi), gnuu (fi) French: gnou (fr) m Galician: ñu (gl) German: Gnu (de) n Greek: γκνου (el) n (gknou) Hebrew: גנו‎ m (g'nu) Hungarian: gnú (hu) Icelandic: gnýr (is) m Irish: gnú m Italian: gnu (it) m, kokoon m Japanese: ヌー (ja) (nū), 牛氈鹿 (ウシカモシカ, ushikamoshika) Korean: 누 (ko) (nu) Macedonian: гну n (gnu) Malay: gnu Norwegian: Bokmål: gnu (no) m Nynorsk: gnu m Polish: gnu (pl) n, antylopa gnu f Portuguese: gnu (pt) m Romanian: gnu (ro) m Romansch: gnu m Russian: гну (ru) m or f (gnu), антило́па-гну f (antilópa-gnu) Slovene: gnu (sl) m Sorbian: Upper Sorbian: gnu m Spanish: ñu (es) m Swahili: nyumbu (sw), mbogo (sw) Swedish: gnu (sv) c Tagalog: nyu Turkish: gnu Vietnamese: linh dương đầu bò

References

1. “gnu”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
2. Sue Butler (2020), “False patterns in English spelling”, in Rebel Without A Clause‎, Macmillan, →ISBN: “The pronunciation [guh-noo] was popularised as a joke until we all heard that pronunciation so often that it seemed more familiar than [nu].”
3. Flanders and Swann (lyrics and music) (1957), “The Gnu Song”: “If the animal in question hadn't put that chap to shame / And remarked "I h'ain't a h'elk, I'm a g-nu"”

Further reading

• gnu on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• gnu at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Ngu, UNG, Ung, gun, nug

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Danish

Etymology

From German Gnu, from Afrikaans ghnoe, from Bantu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡnuː/, [ɡ̊nuːˀ]

Noun

gnu c (singular definite gnuen, plural indefinite gnuer)

1. gnu, wildebeest

Inflection

Declension of gnu

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gnu	gnuen	gnuer	gnuerne
genitive	gnus	gnuens	gnuers	gnuernes

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Finnish

Alternative forms

• gnuu

Etymology

From German Gnu, from Khoekhoe !nu:.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡnu(ː)/, [ˈɡnu(ː)]
• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification^(key): gnu

Noun

gnu

1. gnu, wildebeest (antelope of the genus Connochaetes)
2. black wildebeest, white-tailed gnu, Connochaetes gnou (large antelope native to south Africa)
3. blue wildebeest, brindled gnu, Connochaetes taurinus (large antelope native to eastern Africa)

Declension

Declension of gnu (type maa) singular plural nominative gnu gnut genitive gnun gnuiden partitive gnuta gnuita accusative gnu gnun gnut inessive gnussa gnuissa elative gnusta gnuista illative gnuhun gnuihin adessive gnulla gnuilla ablative gnulta gnuilta allative gnullu gnuille essive gnuna gnuina translative gnuksi gnuiksi instructive – gnuin abessive gnutta gnuitta comitative – gnuineen

Synonyms

• (Connochaetes gnou): valkohäntägnu
• (Connochaetes taurinus): juovagnu

Derived terms

• valkohäntägnu, Connochaetes gnou (black wildebeest, white-tailed gnu)
• juovagnu, Connochaetes taurinus, (blue wildebeest, brindled gnu)

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^*/ˈɲu/^*[1]
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: gnù

Noun

gnu m (invariable)

1. gnu
2. wildebeest, kokoon

References

1. gnu in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From an African language, via German Gnu.

Noun

gnu m (definite singular gnuen, indefinite plural gnuer, definite plural gnuene)

1. a gnu or wildebeest (large antelope)

References

• “gnu” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From German Gnu, from Afrikaans ghnoe. Ultimately Khoekhoe.

Noun

gnu m (definite singular gnuen, indefinite plural gnuar, definite plural gnuane)

1. a gnu or wildebeest (large antelope)

Etymology 2

From Old Norse gnúa. Cognate with Icelandic núa.

Verb

gnu (present tense gnur, past tense gnudde, past participle gnudd/gnutt, passive infinitive gnuast, present participle gnuande, imperative gnu)

1. (transitive) to rub hard
2. (transitive) to compress, crush
3. (intransitive) to work hard and evenly
4. (intransitive) to nag

References

• “gnu” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• ung

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡnu/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: gnu

Noun

gnu n (indeclinable)

1. gnu

Further reading

• gnu in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• gnu in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɡiˈnu/, /ˈɡnu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɡiˈnu/, /ˈɡnu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɡnu/, /ɡiˈnu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈɡnu/

• Rhymes: -u

Noun

gnu m (plural gnus)

1. gnu

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Romanian

Etymology

From French gnou.

Noun

gnu m (uncountable)

1. gnu, wildebeest

Declension

declension of gnu (singular only)

	singular
m gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) gnu	gnul
genitive/dative	(unui) gnu	gnului
vocative	gnule

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Westrobothnian

Etymology

Compare Old Norse gnýr (“clash, din”) and gnyðr (“murmur”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ŋʉ́ː], [ɡ̊ɳʉ́ː] (example of pronunciation)

  Rhymes: -ʉ́ː

Noun

gnu n (definite singular gnue)

1. roaring, rumbling

Alternative forms

• gny

Verb

gnu

1. singular present of gnuu
2. singular imperative of gnuu