Zebu

Definition and stakes

Portrait of Henry Yule Henry Yule,  Hobson-Jobson — Z (1903)

“ Zebu passes, however, with most people as an Indian word; thus Webster's Dictionary says, "Zebu, the native Indian name." The only word at all like it that we can discover is zobo (q.v.) or zhobo, applied in the semi-Tibetan regions of the Himālaya to a useful hybrid, called in Ladak by the slightly modified form dsomo. ”
Source: Wikisource

Various,  Merry's Museum, Volumes V-VI (1843… (1842)

“ We see that the horse dwindles into a pony in the Shetland Isles, and why not the ox shrink into a zebu?
The zebu, like the bison, is extremely gentle when tamed, and very useful to mankind, both as affording food and serving for a beast of draught or burden. These animals are employed in pairs to draw a two-wheeled vehicle, called gadee, which holds but one person, and is used by the wealthy Hindoos. When destined for this purpose, their horns, when young, are bent so as to grow nearly upright, inclining backwards a little toward the top. They are often covered with rich carpets
”
Source: Gutenberg

Portrait of Thomas Davidson Thomas Davidson,  Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary 1908… (1908)

“ Zē′bra-wood, the hard and beautifully striped wood of a Guiana tree.—adj. Zē′brine, like the zebra. [Of African origin.]
Zebu, zē′bū, n. the humped domestic ox of India (or Brahminy bull) , a kind of ox very nearly allied to the common ox, diffused over India, China, the east coast of Africa, &c. [Fr. zébu, the whimsical name taken by Buffon from the exhibitors of such a beast at a French fair as if African.]
Zebub, zē′bub, n. an Abyssinian fly hurtful to cattle, similar to the tsetse. [Ar. zubāb, a fly.]
”
Source: Wikisource

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