Gnu
name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Abbreviation of government of national unity. abbreviation, alt-of
"This scenario would hark back to the post-apartheid era when South Africa operated under a GNU to oversee the new constitution, led by Mandela as president and FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as deputy presidents, between April 1994 and February 1997."
- 2 A large antelope of the genus Connochaetes, native to Africa, having curved horns.
- 3 large African antelope having a head with horns like an ox and a long tufted tail wordnet
- 1 The Free Software Foundation's project to develop a free UNIX-like operating system, including the legal framework, such as the source code and documentation licenses.
Example
More examples"The crocodile trapped the gnu as it tried to cross the river."
Etymology
Coined by Richard Stallman in 1983 as a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix”, following convention of naming programs similar to or inspired by existing programs as “(New Name) Is Not (Old Name)”; compare Xinu. Specifically influenced by lack of English words of form ?nu (“?NU is Not Unix”), that gnu is the alphabetically first (and in fact only) English word of the form ?nu (“?’s Not Unix”), that gnu was perceived as a humorous word, and the existence of the song “The Gnu”.
From Dutch gnoe, from Khoekhoe ǃnu:, of unknown origin, likely onomatopoeic of the grunt-type noise of the gnu.
Related phrases
More for "gnu"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.