nilgai

American  

[nil-gahy] / ˈnɪl gaɪ /

Or nylghai,

noun

plural

nilgais,

plural

nilgai

1. a large, Indian antelope, Boselaphus tragocamelus, the male of which is bluish gray with small horns, the female tawny and hornless.

---

nilgai British  

/ ˈnɪlɡɔː, ˈnɪlɡaɪ /

noun

1. a large Indian antelope, Boselaphus tragocamelus. The male is blue-grey with white markings and has small horns; the female is brownish and has no horns

---

Etymology

Origin of nilgai

First recorded in 1880–85, nilgai is from the Hindi word nīlgāy literally, blue cow

Example Sentences

Scarier still was the walk to a market where she had to sort the family’s paperwork for a ration card, through a wooded area populated by nilgai deer, monkeys and python.

From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2016

An antelope, known in Hindi as nilgai, ambled ahead of us on the path; it had lost one of its horns, presumably in a neelgai version of a barroom brawl.

From New York Times • Jan. 14, 2011

The Army first introduced camels to the area in 1856, and starting in the 1940s the locals began importing other exotic animals--ibex and zebras, nilgai antelope from Pakistan and barasingh deer from India.

From Time Magazine Archive

Leopards, black buck, spotted deer, and nilgai are common; the mallard, teal, grey duck, common goose, and all kinds of waterfowl abound.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 8 "Haller, Albrecht" to "Harmonium" by Various

So they separated and the next day at noon the raibar went to the tree and found a fine nilgai waiting for him, which he and his friends took home and ate with joy.

From Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Bompas, Cecil Henry