Meanings
plural rheboks · alternative reebok · alternative rhebuck · alternative rehboc · alternative rheeboc
- A medium-sized, deerlike South African antelope, Pelea capreolus, having pale-gray, curly fur and straight horns.
The name of the South African antelope, the rhebok, derives from Dutch reebok, and can be written reebok.
2011, Christopher Upward and George Davidson, The History of English Spelling, Wiley, →ISBN, page 2742 more examples
There are also a whole lot of compounds that use 'bok': rhebok, bontebok, blesbok, gemsbok, rietbok, grysbok, bloubok ...
2011, Rajend Mesthrie, Eish, But is it English?, Penguin Random House South Africa, →ISBNThe pronunciation and spelling over the years have changed through roe, rabock, reebok, raybuck to rhebok in English and 'ribbok' in Afrikaans (Skead 1980).
2013, Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Thomas Butynski, Michael Hoffmann, Meredith Happold, and Jan Kalina, Mammals of Africa: Volumes I-VI, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 417Synonyms: grey rhebok, grey rhebuck, peele
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA medium-sized, deerlike South African antelope, Pelea capreolus, having pale-gray, curly fur and straight horns.
Origin
- Middle Dutchreeboc
- Dutchreebok“roebuck”
- Afrikaansreebok“rhebok”
- Englishrhebok
Earlier rabock, reebok, rhebuck, rheeboc, raybuck, rehboc, borrowed from Afrikaans reebok (“rhebok”), ribbok (“rhebok”), from Dutch reebok (“roebuck”), compound of ree + bok, from Middle Dutch reeboc. Unetymological h present since 1775 though the spelling and pronunciation has varied greatly over the years. Doublet of roebuck.
More words from Afrikaans, Dutch, Middle Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans vaalribbok
- vaalribbokPelea capreolus
Dutch reebokantilope
- reebokantilopePelea capreolus
Finnish kaurisantilooppi, vuohiantilooppi
- kaurisantilooppiPelea capreolus
- vuohiantilooppiPelea capreolus
Italian antilope capriolo
- antilope caprioloPelea capreolus
Swedish råbocksantilop
- råbocksantilopPelea capreolus
Zulu inxala
- inxalaPelea capreolus
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
rhebok. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhebok
“rhebok.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhebok. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rhebok,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhebok.
Source: rhebok on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.