ox

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An adult male of the cattle family, often used to pull heavy loads.

   The farmer used a pair of oxen to plough the field.

2. 2
   noun

   Any large animal of the cattle family.

   Wild oxen once roamed across much of Europe.

From Middle English oxe, from Old English oxa, from Proto-West Germanic *ohsō, from Proto-Germanic *uhsô (compare West Frisian okse, Dutch os, German Ochse), from Proto-Indo-European *uksḗn. Cognate with Welsh ych (“ox”), Tocharian A ops, Tocharian B okso (“draft-ox”), Avestan 𐬎𐬑𐬱𐬀𐬥 (uxšan, “bull”), Sanskrit उ॒क्षन् (ukṣán).

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