Bison
name, noun
name, noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A large, wild bovid of the genus Bison.
- 2 any of several large humped bovids having shaggy manes and large heads and short horns wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A city and town in Kansas.
- 2 A town, the county seat of Perkins County, South Dakota.
Example
More examples"When Columbus discovered America, bison (American buffalo) inhabited a wide-ranging area."
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.
Related phrases
More for "bison"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.