Meanings
plural sable antelopes
- A large antelope, of species Hippotragus niger, of eastern and southern Africa.
I saw a rhinoceros, buffalo (a large herd), eland, quagga, and sable antelope, the most beautiful of all the bucks, not to mention many smaller varieties of game, and three ostriches which scudded away at our approach like white drift before a gale.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounlarge black East African antelope with sharp backward-curving horns
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
probably from its sable black coloring
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans swartwitpens
- swartwitpensHippotragus niger
Arabic ظَبْي سَمُّورِيّ
- ظَبْي سَمُّورِيّ (ẓaby sammūriyy)Hippotragus niger
French hippotrague noir
- hippotrague noirHippotragus niger
Italian antilope nera
- antilope neraHippotragus niger
Romanian antilopa-samur
- antilopa-samurHippotragus niger
Russian чёрная антило́па
- чёрная антило́па (čórnaja antilópa)Hippotragus niger
Swahili mbarapi, palahala
- mbarapiHippotragus niger
- palahalaHippotragus niger
Zulu impalampala
- impalampalaHippotragus niger
Cite this entry
sable antelope. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sable%20antelope
“sable antelope.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sable%20antelope. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sable antelope,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sable%20antelope.
Source: sable antelope on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.