Etymology

saola

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Today it means: A critically endangered ruminant of species Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, of Vietnam and Laos. Full definition →

Vietnamese sao la ← Lao ເສົາຫລ
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The story

  1. Lao · derived fromເສົາຫລ“spindle[-horned]”
  2. Vietnamese · borrowed fromsao la
  3. English todaysaola

Borrowed from Vietnamese sao la, probably from Lao ເສົາຫລ (sao la, “spindle[-horned]”) or some other Tai-Kadai language.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.