Whence
Springbok (the word)
Word

Where does Springbok (the word) come from?

The word springbok comes from South Africa's Cape. Dutch-speaking colonists there named the antelope 'jumping buck' for its agility, English first recorded the name in 1775, and the springbok is now South Africa's national animal.

A jumping buck

Springbok joins spring, 'jump', and bok, 'buck', 'antelope' or 'goat'. The Dictionary of South African English traces it to the South African Dutch of the colonists, and both parts are also Afrikaans words. The colonists chose the name for the animal's leaps. A 1786 English translation of Anders Sparrman's travels at the Cape explained that the colonists called it spring-bok, 'a term in the Dutch language signifying the leaping or bounding goat'. Bok is a cousin of English buck.

From travellers' books into English

English met the word through travellers' reports. In 1775 an account in the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions mentioned 'some herds of the spring bocks, a species of antelope'. Spellings such as spring-bock and spring-boc followed, and in 1810 George Barrington wrote that the Dutch had given the animal 'a name indicative of its motions'. In the 20th century the word became a national emblem, and South Africa's national rugby team is still known as the Springboks.

Why people think of East Africa

Herds of leaping antelope on open plains bring to mind the wildlife parks of Kenya and Tanzania. But the springbok lives only in the dry south and southwest of Africa, from northwestern South Africa through the Kalahari Desert into Namibia and Botswana, and north to southern Angola. Its scientific name, Antidorcas, means 'opposite of a gazelle'. In earlier times millions of springbok crossed the Kalahari and the Karoo in migrating herds hundreds of kilometres long.

Sources: etymonline.com ↗ · dsae.co.za ↗ · en.wikipedia.org ↗

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