chirus

chirus — noun

1. A rare antelope that lives on the Tibetan Plateau. It has a soft, woolly coat th

1.nounC2
Definition

A rare antelope that lives on the Tibetan Plateau. It has a soft, woolly coat that is pinkish-brown in colour, and the male grows long, almost straight horns.

Example

A herd of chiru crossed the road in front of our jeep near the Tibetan border.

countable: a herd of chiru / chirus

The chiru's soft underfur, known as shahtoosh, is highly valued for making warm shawls.

possessive: chiru's + noun (body part)

Common collocations
  • herd of chirus
  • chirus population
  • protect the chiru
  • chiru wool
  • Tibetan chiru
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

a/the chirus

herd of chirus

Usage Note

Also spelled 'chiru'. The plural can be either 'chirus' or 'chiru'. This animal is the source of shahtoosh wool, which is illegal to trade in most countries under CITES regulations.

Common Mistakes

The chiru is a type of gazelle.
The chiru is a type of antelope.
Chiru belong to the antelope family (Bovidae), not the gazelle genus.

Word family

  • chiru
    nounC2
  • Tibetan antelope
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Chirus (or chiru) are a specific species of antelope native to the Tibetan Plateau, so 'Tibetan antelope' is a fully accurate descriptive name used in conservation reports. 'Antelope' alone is a much broader category covering hundreds of species across Africa and Asia — using it without qualification loses the geographic and biological specificity. 'Gazelle' is a common source of confusion: gazelles belong to a different subfamily (Antilopinae) and are generally smaller, with ringed horns, and live in African and Asian grasslands rather than the high-altitude Tibetan steppe. For a learner, 'chiru' is the most precise term, 'Tibetan antelope' is the clearest for a general audience, and neither should be replaced with 'gazelle'.

chiruTibetan antelopeantelope ↗gazelle ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • protect the chiru
  • hunt the chiru
  • chiru population decline

Prepositions

  • of the Tibetan Plateau

Etymology

TibetanEnglish

The word 'chiru' (also Latinised as 'chirus') comes from Tibetan, where it refers to this particular antelope. The scientific name Pantholops hodgsonii honours Brian Houghton Hodgson, a 19th-century British naturalist who studied Himalayan wildlife.

First known use

1825

1825, in the meaning defined above