bison French · revision 15710

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1307|origins=gem-pro *wisund}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bi.zɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bison''' ''m'' (plural bisons, feminine bisonne)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|bison|t=wild ox]], recorded from the 1st century in Seneca and Pliny,^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) which also passed into [[grc|βίσων|tr=bísōn]] (Pausanias, Oppian).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin word is taken from a Germanic [[gem-pro|*wisund]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Académie 9) the source of [[goh|wisunt]] (modern [[de|Wisent]]), [[ang|wesend]] and [[non|vísundr]], related to [[prg|wissambrs|t=aurochs]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Bloch and Wartburg say only that it is perhaps Germanic.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) According to Kluge the animal was named after the strong musky smell of its mane in the rutting season, from a root also seen in the Latin source of [[vison]] and [[vesse]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Recorded in 1307, it named the wild ox of Europe known to the ancients, the one now called [[aurochs]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873) Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date it from the end of the 15th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the Middle Ages ''bison'' was used for the aurochs or wild ox of Europe;^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992) with the discovery of America it came to mean above all the American “wild ox”, the buffalo of the plains, while the European species is the ''bison d'Europe'' or wisent.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007) The feminine is ''bisonne'', rare.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989) In 1884 ''bison'' was also a fur used for robes.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1st century – Latin ''bison'' (Seneca, Pliny).^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1307 – First recorded in French.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * late 15th century – Date given by Bloch and Wartburg.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1884 – A fur for clothing.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bison]], a large wild ox with a humped back and shaggy mane: ''bison d'Amérique'', the [[m|en|buffalo]]^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary); ''bison d'Europe'', the [[m|en|wisent]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aurochs]]

+ * [[la|bison]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}