gnu

See also: Gnu, GNU, gnú, and gnû

English

a few gnus

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

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

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.

Derived temrs

• gnu goat

Translations

large antelope of the genus Connochaetes

• Afrikaans: wildebees (af)
• Assamese: নু পহু (nu pohu)
• Asturian: ñu (ast) 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

Further reading

• gnu on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “gnu”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Ngu, UNG, Ung, gun, nug

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

Finnish

Alternative forms

• gnuu

Etymology

Borrowed 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)

   Synonym: valkohäntägnu

3. blue wildebeest, brindled gnu, Connochaetes taurinus (large antelope native to eastern Africa)

   Synonym: juovagnu

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 abessive gnutta gnuitta instructive – gnuin comitative – gnuineen

Derived terms

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

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from French gnou, from Khoekhoe ǃnu:, likely onomatopoeic in origin.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

gnu m (invariable)

1. gnu
2. wildebeest, kokoon

Further reading

• gnu in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• gnu in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• gnu in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• gnu in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• gnu in sapere.it – De Agostini Editore
• gnu in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

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.

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 gnutt/gnudd, 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

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

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French gnou.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ɡiˈnu/, /ˈɡnu/

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

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈɡnu/, /ɡɨˈnu/

• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: gnu

Noun

gnu m (plural gnus)

1. gnu

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed 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