Gnu

See also: GNU, gnu, gnú, and gnû

German

Etymology

First used by Georg Forster in 1778, transcribing English gnoo, which he himself had introduced, a year earlier, in his English work A voyage round the world. Further from Khoekhoe !nu:, possibly via South African Dutch. While Dutch gnoe is only attested later on (common Afrikaans being wildebees), it may nevertheless have existed because it would have been difficult for Forster to borrow the word directly from Khoekhoe. The earliest-ever European attestation seems to be in a French text of 1775 (in the form nou).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡnuː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

Gnu n (strong, genitive Gnus, plural Gnus)

1. gnu

Declension

Declension of Gnu [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Gnu	die	Gnus
genitive	eines	des	Gnus	der	Gnus
dative	einem	dem	Gnu	den	Gnus
accusative	ein	das	Gnu	die	Gnus

Further reading

• “Gnu” in Duden online
• “Gnu” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache