hartebeest
/ˈhɑːtəbiːst/noun
hartebeest is spelled H-A-R-T-E-B-E-E-S-T: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 33 million words in written English, the 176,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hartebeest means “A species of grassland antelope, Alcelaphus buselaphus, native to parts of Africa” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hartebeest is hartebeests; Wiktionary also lists hartebeesten (rare).
How many letters and syllables are in hartebeest?
| Letters | 10: H-A-R-T-E-B-E-E-S-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 33 million words; the 176,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hartebeest?
Hartebeest appears about once in every 33 million words in written English, the 176,009th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hartebeest?
- UK /ˈhɑːtəbiːst/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hartebeest.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hartebeest
- hartebeests plural
- hartebeesten plural, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hartebeest mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A species of grassland antelope, Alcelaphus buselaphus, native to parts of Africa.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hartebeest in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Alcelaphus bucelaphus:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bubale roux, bubale |
| German | Kuhantilope |
| Portuguese | hartebeest, veado-do-cabo |
| Spanish | alcélafo, bubal, ñu rojo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hartebeest come from?
From early Afrikaans hartebeest (now hartebees), from Dutch hert (“deer, hart”) + Dutch beest (“beast”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).