Audads

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of wild sheep native to North Africa characterized by distinctive curved horns ; also known as Barbary sheep, often introduced for hunting purposes in other regions ; displaying adaptability to arid, rocky environments
2. Referring to a hardy, thick-coated, and horned species of Caprinae from North Africa ; often called Barbary sheep, commonly found in exotic game ranches worldwide ; renowned for surviving in sparse, mountainous terrain
3. Denoting robust, sandy-brown wild sheep originally from north African deserts ; widely known in hunting communities as Barbary sheep ; valued for their ability to thrive in harsh, semi-arid landscapes

Etymology: "Audads" is the plural of "audad," a name for the wild African sheep, Ammotragus lervia, a horned, long-legged species of North Africa and the Sahara. The singular "audad" was borrowed into English from Arabic, where the animal is called "aoudad" (Arabic: عَوْدَة, 'awda). Since the word names a single animal type, its plural is simply the familiar English "-s" form, so "audads" refers to more than one of these sheep.

Synonyms: goats, wild goats