Audad

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A wild sheep species found mainly in North Africa, noted for its curved horns and sandy-brown coat
2. A tough mountain dweller that thrives in arid and rugged terrain, recognized for its impressive agility
3. A member of the Bovidae family, often seen in rocky slopes and mountainous regions, where it adapts to challenging environments

Etymology: The audad, more often spelled "aoudad," is a wild sheep of North Africa, and its English name travelled a long way before arriving in print. The word came into English from French "aoudad," which in turn borrowed it from Tashelhit, a Berber language of Morocco, where the animal is called "awdad." The sequence is a tidy example of a foreign animal name moving through a colonial-era language into English without much change in its shape. The spelling "audad" is simply an alternative form of the same word, so the two differ only in the vowels a reader sees on the page. Both trace back to the Tashelhit original, and the animal itself is the Barbary sheep, native to the mountains and deserts of North Africa.