bison
/ˈbaɪ̯sən/ noun, proper noun
Forms bisons bisontes
- noun A large, wild bovid of the genus Bison.
- proper noun A city and town in Kansas.
- proper noun A town, the county seat of Perkins County, South Dakota.
Etymology
From Middle English bysontes, bysountes pl, from Middle French bison, from Latin bisōn, bisōnt- (“wild ox”).
The Latin term is recorded in the 1st century, likely a direct loan from Proto-Germanic *wisundaz (“wild ox, aurochs”) (see for full etymology). Akin to Old High German wisunt (“bison”), German Wisent (“bison”), Old English wesend, wusend (“bison, buffalo, wild ox”), Middle Dutch wēsent (“wild ox”). Doublet of wisent.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [L. bison, Gr. , a wild ox; akin to OHG. wisunt, wisant, G. wisent, AS. wesend, Icel. visundr: cf. F. bison.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bison”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details