From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
gnu
n : large African antelope having a head with horns like an ox
and a long tufted tail [syn: wildebeest]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gnu \Gnu\, n. [Hottentot gnu, or nju: cf. F. gnou.] (Zool.)
One of two species of large South African antelopes of the
genus Catoblephas, having a mane and bushy tail, and curved
horns in both sexes. [Written also gnoo.]
[1913 Webster]
Note: The common gnu or wildebeest (Catoblephas gnu) is
plain brown; the brindled gnu or blue wildebeest ({C.
gorgon}) is larger, with transverse stripes of black on
the neck and shoulders.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
GNU
<body, project> /g*noo/ 1. A recursive acronym:
"GNU's Not Unix!". The Free Software Foundation's project
to provide a freely distributable replacement for Unix. The
GNU Manifesto was published in the March 1985 issue of
Dr. Dobb's Journal but the GNU project started a year and a
half earlier when Richard Stallman was trying to get funding
to work on his freely distributable editor, Emacs.
Emacs and the GNU C compiler, gcc, two tools designed
for this project, have become very popular. GNU software is
available from many GNU archive sites.
See also Hurd.
2. <person> John Gilmore.
[Jargon File]
(1997-04-12)
From Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) [jargon]:
GNU
/gnoo/, not, /noo/
1. [acronym: `GNU's Not Unix!', see recursive acronym] A
Unix-workalike development effort of the Free Software Foundation
headed by Richard Stallman. GNU EMACS and the GNU C compiler, two
tools designed for this project, have become very popular in
hackerdom and elsewhere. The GNU project was designed partly to
proselytize for RMS's position that information is community property
and all software source should be shared. One of its slogans is "Help
stamp out software hoarding!" Though this remains controversial
(because it implicitly denies any right of designers to own, assign,
and sell the results of their labors), many hackers who disagree with
RMS have nevertheless cooperated to produce large amounts of
high-quality software for free redistribution under the Free Software
Foundation's imprimatur. The GNU project has a web page at
http://www.gnu.org/. See EMACS, copyleft, General Public Virus,
Linux.
2. Noted Unix hacker John Gilmore <gnu@toad.com>}, founder of
Usenet's anarchic alt.* hierarchy.