saola

S1A1O1L1A1
/ˈsaʊlə//ˈsaʊˌlɑː/

noun

A critically endangered ruminant of species Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, of Vietnam and Laos.

Similar
Asian unicornspindlehornVu Quang oxVu Quang bovid
Scrabble 5

Meanings

nounsaola (plural saolas or saola)

plural saolas

  1. A critically endangered ruminant of species Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, of Vietnam and Laos.

    2015, William deBuys, The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of Earth's Rarest Creatures, Hachette (Little, Brown and Company), unnumbered page, It is surprising, twenty years after saola first attracted the world's attention, that so little about the species is known.

    2 more examples

    2013, C. Michele Thompson, 10: Would a saola by any other name still be a saola?, Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Mark Sidel (editors), State, Society and the Market in Contemporary Vietnam, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 185, The current consensus is that the saola is so rare and so solitary in terms of genetic relatives that it should be placed not only in its own separate genus (Pseudoryx) but also in its own tribe (Pseudorygini) within the subfamily Bovinae.

    Killing or capture of saola is prohibited by law in both Vietnam and Lao PDR, and the sale of wildlife in both countries is generally illegal, but there is insufficient enforcement of these laws in both countries.

    2014, William Robichaud, Barney Long, “Chapter 19: Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis Dung, Giao, Chinh, Touc, Arctander & Mackinnon, 1993”, in Mario Melletti, James Burton, editors, Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation, Cambridge University Press, page 323

    Synonyms: Asian unicorn, spindlehorn, Vu Quang ox, Vu Quang bovid

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA critically endangered ruminant of species Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, of Vietnam and Laos.

Similar
Asian unicornspindlehornVu Quang oxVu Quang bovid

Origin

  1. Laoເສົາຫລ“spindle[-horned]”
  2. Vietnamesesao la
  3. Englishsaola

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

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 中南大羚
  • 中南大羚 (zhōngnán dàlíng)rare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Finnish saola
  • saolarare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Japanese サオラ
  • サオラ (saora)rare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Portuguese saola
  • saolarare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Russian са́ола, сао́ла
  • са́олаrare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
  • сао́ла (sáola, saóla)rare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Spanish saola, buey de vu quang
  • saolarare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
  • buey de vu quangrare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Swedish vuquangoxe, vietnamantilop
  • vuquangoxerare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
  • vietnamantiloprare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Thai ซาวลา
  • ซาวลา (saola)rare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Ukrainian са́ола, сао́ла
  • са́ола (sáola)rare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
  • сао́ла (saóla)rare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos
Vietnamese sao la
  • sao larare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

saola. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saola

MLA

“saola.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saola. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “saola,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saola.

Source: saola on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.