ox
UK /ɒks/ · US /ɑks/ noun, proper noun
Forms oxen oxes O O. Ox. OXY oxy.
- noun An adult castrated male of cattle (B. taurus), especially when used as a beast of burden. “a yoke of oxen”
- noun Any bovine animal (genus Bos).
- proper noun (astronomy) A Chinese constellation located near Capricorn, one of the 28 lunar mansions and part of the larger Black Turtle.
- proper noun The second of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
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).
Clipping of oxygen.
(constellation): Semantic loan from Chinese 牛宿 (Niúxiù).
: (surname): From ox, the animal.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The male of bovine quadrupeds, especially the domestic animal when castrated and grown to its full size, or nearly so. The word is also applied, as a general name, to any species of bovine animals, male and female.
Etymology [AS. oxa; akin to D. os. G. ochs, ochse, OHG. ohso, Icel. oxi, Sw. & Dan. oxe, Goth. aúhsa, Skr. ukshan ox, bull; cf. Skr. uksh to sprinkle. Humid, Aurochs.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ox”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details