Barbary sheep
- noun
- UK
:
muflón de Barbary
- The Barbary sheep is well adapted to arid mountain environments in the Sahara.
Examples
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The Barbary sheep is known for its impressive curved horns.
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Because of its agility, the Barbary sheep can easily climb steep, rocky slopes.
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Zookeepers recently welcomed a baby Barbary sheep into their wildlife preserve.
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Many tourists visit Morocco to see the Barbary sheep in their natural habitat.
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In the rocky mountains of Tunisia, the Barbary sheep gracefully navigates steep terrain.
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In the wild, the Barbary sheep often seeks shelter from the harsh sun among the rocks.
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Wildlife experts study the behavior of the Barbary sheep to understand its adaptation to desert life.
Synonyms
A wild sheep from northern Africa, also called Barbary sheep
A wild sheep from North Africa with reddish-brown coat and curved horns
A wild sheep from North Africa with curved horns and thick shaggy fur
Surface Forms
Morphology
Barbary + sheep
This is a compositional noun phrase: 'Barbary' denotes origin/association with the Barbary (North Africa) region and 'sheep' names the animal, so the combined meaning ('a sheep from Barbary / North Africa') is directly inferable if the learner knows both words. The place-origin + noun pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand the intended referent.
Etymology
Barbary sheep gets its name from Barbary, an old name for parts of 'North Africa', and sheep because it looks like a wild sheep with reddish-brown fur and curved horns on steep rocks. So the name tells you it is a wild, mountain-living sheep from that area and helps you picture the animal on dry, rocky slopes.
