Etymologically
Log in

bison

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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]

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