ox

B2 Topic:Animals

US /ˈɑks/ UK /ˈɒks/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like ax /æ/ vs /ɑ/ Sounds like axe /æ/ vs /ɑ/

Freq #8413

Meanings

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

noun
Any large animal of the cattle family.

Wild oxen once roamed across much of Europe.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an adult male of the cattle... bullock steer

2 noun · any large animal of the... wild ox

Word family

Forms oxen

Derived forms musk-oxnoxox-biterox-buttox-eyeox-eyedoxbackoxbaneoxbirdoxbloodoxbowoxcart

Related forms aurochsnox

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).

oxe Middle English oxa Old English *ohsō Proto-West Germanic *uhsô Proto-Germanic *uksḗn Proto-Indo-European

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# ox

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɑks/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɒks/
**Frequency rank:** 8413

## Meanings
1. An adult male of the cattle family, often used to pull heavy loads.
2. Any large animal of the cattle family.

## Examples
- The farmer used a pair of oxen to plough the field.
- Wild oxen once roamed across much of Europe.

## Derived Forms
- musk-ox
- nox
- ox-biter
- ox-butt
- ox-eye
- ox-eyed
- oxback
- oxbane
- oxbird
- oxblood
- oxbow
- oxcart

## Related Forms
- aurochs
- nox

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: oxe
- Root: oxa
- Root: *ohsō
- Root: *uhsô
- Root: *uksḗn

## Etymology
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).

## AI Etymology
Ox comes 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). Modern senses include an adult male of the cattle family, often used to pull heavy loads and any large animal of the cattle family. The wider word family includes derivatives such as musk-ox, nox, ox-biter, ox-butt, ox-eye, and ox-eyed and related forms such as aurochs and nox.

## Topics
- Animals

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ox

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