bison

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈbɪ.soːn]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbiː.s̬on]^[1]

Forms

bisōn m (genitive bisōntis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Proto-Germanic *wisundaz (“bison, wisent”).^[1][2] The OLD and the TLL call it a Germanic word and compare Old High German wisunt and Old English wesend.^[3][4] Greek Ancient Greek βίσων (bísōn) was borrowed at about the same time.^[1] An older view reported by Lewis & Short and Georges, from Oppian, named it after the Thracian Bistones.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Seneca the Younger, in the Phaedra, has shaggy bison and wild aurochs among the beasts of the hunt.^[4] Köbler dates Seneca 4 BC–65 AD.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was the wild ox of the northern regions, the bison.^[3][5] Pliny writes that Germany produces maned bison and the swift aurochs, and Martial mentions bison pulling chariots and fighting in the arena.^[4] Martial also spells it uison.^[3] Isidore repeats that Germany breeds bison, aurochs and elks.^[4] In medieval Latin it was the wisent and perhaps also the elk.^[7]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca the Younger mentions bison in the Phaedra.^[4][2]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the bison of Germany.^[4][2]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial mentions bison in the arena.^[4][2]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville lists it among the beasts of Germany.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The bison, wisent, a wild ox.^[3][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Perhaps the elk.^[7]

Related words

• urus
• English bison

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften