ibex

[ ahy-beks ]

noun

, plural i·bex·es, ib·i·ces [ib, -, uh, -seez, ahy, -b, uh, -], (especially collectively) i·bex.

1. any of several wild goats of the genus Capra, inhabiting mountainous regions of Eurasia and North Africa, having long, recurved horns.

ibex

/ ˈaɪbɛks /

noun

1. any of three wild goats, Capra ibex, C. caucasica, or C. pyrenaica, of mountainous regions of Europe, Asia, and North Africa, having large backward-curving horns

Word History and Origins

Origin of ibex¹

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1600–10

Word History and Origins

Origin of ibex¹

C17: from Latin: chamois

Example Sentences

Among the rock drawings are many of ibexes, but also some that have been interpreted as depicting the tablets of the commandments or other references from the Bible.

From New York Times

An extraordinary silver vase for holy offerings is incised with line drawings of a lion-headed eagle, attribute of a rainstorm god, with two reclining ibexes and two lions clutched helplessly in its talons.

From Los Angeles Times

Beneath the philosophical welter, a new world glitters with prelapsarian strangeness: Gangs of plump cats raid administrative lobbies, chamois goats prance along train tracks, ibexes graze hotel lawns.

From New York Times

This summer, it opened a vistors’ center to view Alpine ibex, a species of wild goat with curved horns that lives in the Alps, one of the first attractions unrelated to skiing.

From National Geographic

Officials have counted 70 newborn ibex this year at the Pyrenees national park and nearby Ariege regional park in the craggy mountains that separate France and Spain.

From The Guardian