large African antelope having a head with horns like an ox and a long tufted tail
"The gnu wandered across the savanna, its massive ox-like horns gleaming in the sun."
A large antelope of the genus Connochaetes, native to Africa, having curved horns.
"The massive gnu grazed peacefully in the African savanna, its long, curved horns sweeping back from its head."
In plain English: A GNU is an open-source operating system based on Linux that many people use for their computers and phones.
"The gnu grazed peacefully in the tall grass on the savanna."
Usage: Use this term when referring specifically to the African antelope with long, downward-curving horns, not as a generic name for any wild bovine or deer species. Avoid confusing it with "gnu" used in computing contexts unless discussing open-source software projects named after the animal.
Name of 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.
"After years of development under the GNU project, users can now download the complete operating system along with its open-source software libraries."
Richard Stallman coined the name "gnu" in 1983 as a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix." He chose this specific spelling because it was the only English word fitting the pattern that would allow the phrase to read naturally.