Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Gnu

Gnu , noun

[Hottentot gnu, or nju: compare French gnou.]

(Zoology) One of two species of large South African antelopes of the genus Catoblephas, having a mane and bushy tail, and curved horns in both sexes.

The common gnu or wildebeest (Catoblephas gnu) is plain brown; the brindled gnu or blue wildebeest (C. gorgon) is larger, with transverse stripes of black on the neck and shoulders.