Join free

ox

English · Español · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

ox¹

  • /ɒks/ Northern England, UK, Wales
  • /ɔks/ Australia, British, Scotland
  • /ɑks/ US
  • /ɒks/ Canada
  • [ɒks] ~ [ɑks] Canada
  • /ɒks/ New Zealand
  • [ɔ̟ks] ~ [ɞ̠ks] New Zealand

Sounds like auks (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒks

Where it comes from

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).

noun oxen · oxes

  1. An adult castrated male of cattle (B. taurus), especially when used as a beast of burden. a yoke of oxen

    Similar: bullock, steer

  2. Any bovine animal (genus Bos). Here the same four kinds are mentioned ... These are sheep, goats, camels and oxen.

    Similar: neat

ox²

  • /ɒks/ Northern England, UK, Wales
  • /ɔks/ Australia, British, Scotland
  • /ɑks/ US
  • /ɒks/ Canada
  • [ɒks] ~ [ɑks] Canada
  • /ɒks/ New Zealand
  • [ɔ̟ks] ~ [ɞ̠ks] New Zealand

Sounds like auks (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒks

Where it comes from

Clipping of oxygen.

noun O · O. · OX · Ox. · Ox · ox.

  1. abbreviation, uncountable Abbreviation of oxygen I'm super excited to be on the summit of K2! No Ox! (coughs) It was hard.

Ox³

Where it comes from

(constellation): Semantic loan from Chinese 牛宿 (Niúxiù).

: (surname): From ox, the animal.

: (Oxford): Clipping

proper noun

  1. A Chinese constellation located near Capricorn, one of the 28 lunar mansions and part of the larger Black Turtle.
  2. The second of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
  3. A surname.
  4. abbreviation, clipping Clipping of Oxford

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: wild ox, musk, bull, steer, bullock, cow, cattle, bovine, bos, neat, kine, beeve, heifer, calf, stot, taurine

Translations

Every language

noun an adult castrated male of cattle

Españolbuey
中文公牛 gōngniú
हिन्दीबैल bail
Portuguêsboi
Françaisbœuf
DeutschOchse
Italianobue
Ελληνικάβόδι vódi
Românăbou
Русскийвол vol
Tiếng Việtbò đực thiến
עבריתשׁוֹר šor

noun any bovine animal used as a beast of burden

Españolbuey, toro, novillo
日本語去勢雄牛 kyosei ōshi
中文犉 rún, 牛 niú
हिन्दीबैल bail
Kiswahilingʼombe
Portuguêsboi
Françaisbœuf
DeutschRind, Zugrind, Zugtier
Italianobue, bove
Ελληνικάβόδι vódi
Românăbou
Русскийвол vol, бык byk
Tiếng Việtbò
العربيةثَوْر ṯawr
עבריתשׁוֹר šor

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"ox." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ox. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ox. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ox

Chicago

"ox." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ox.

BibTeX
@misc{ox_2026,
  title = {ox},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ox},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}