bison English · revision 868

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbaɪsən/, /ˈbaɪzən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|bison]] or directly [[der|la|bisōn|t=wild ox]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) of Germanic origin,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[gem-pro|*wisand-]] “aurochs”,^(Etymonline) related to [[goh|wisunt]] and Old English ''wesend''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It is possibly of Baltic or Slavic origin, meaning “the stinking animal”, from its rutting scent,^(Etymonline) and may be related to [[weasel]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The European wild ox (c. 1600–11),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) though the Latin plural ''bysontes'' appears in English before 1398.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Germanic name died out in English with the animal itself, and the word was reintroduced from Latin.^(Etymonline) The European bison or wisent, once widespread, survived in the 20th century only in a Polish forest reserve.^(Etymonline) From 1693 the name was applied to the North American species commonly called a [[buffalo]],^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) whose numbers fell so low that the Century Dictionary (1902) thought it would soon be extinct in the wild; it has since recovered on protected land.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1398 – the Latin plural ''bysontes''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1611 – the European bison.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1693 – the American bison.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large shaggy-maned North American [[bovine]] mammal, ''Bison bison'', with a large head, short curved horns and a hump; the American [[buffalo]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A similar, somewhat smaller animal of Europe, ''Bison bonasus''; the [[wisent]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[American bison]]

+ * [[European bison]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[buffalo]]

+ * [[wisent]]

+ * [[aurochs]]

+ * [[weasel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}