noun
A large goat antelope (Capra falconeri) of the western Himalayas, having a brownish coat, corkscrew-shaped horns, and long fur on the neck and chest in the male.
Origin of markhor
Ultimately (partly via Kashmiri, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu) from Persian mārkhōr variant ( influenced by khor- ) ( stem of khordan to eat ) of mārkhwār literally “snake-eater” (the markhor being so called because of the widespread Eurasian folk belief that certain ungulates eat snakes, perhaps inspired by the markhor's coiled, serpentine horns, or by the dark green bezoars of old markhor bucks, traditionally prized as an antidote to poison) mār snake ( from Middle Persian) ( perhaps from Old Iranian marthra- killer ; see mer- in Indo-European roots.) -khwār eater ( from Old Iranian -khvāra- ; see manticore. )