aurochs [awr-oks] ExamplesWord Origin noun, plural au·rochs.
- a large, black European wild ox, Bos primigenius: extinct since 1627.
- (not used scientifically) the European bison.
Origin of aurochs 1760–70; German, variant (now obsolete) of Auerochs, Middle High German ūrochse, Old High German ūrohso, equivalent to ūr (cognate with Old English ūr bison) + ohso ox Examples from the Web for aurochs Contemporary Examples of aurochs
A terrible storm melts the polar ice caps, unleashing a group of prehistoric creatures called Aurochs.
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Historical Examples of aurochs
That the Aurochs is ten feet three inches from nose to tail.
George Vasey
When I saw her on the horns of the aurochs, I heard a voice in my soul saying, ‘Defend her!’
Henryk Sienkiewicz
This is the aurochs, which appears repeatedly on the carvings in the British Museum.
W.A. Wigram
Grazing in the meadows were the aurochs, or wild ox, and the wisent, or bison.
Henry Fairfield Osborn
The aurochs are still to be met with in some provinces of the north.
Buffon’s Natural History. Volume VIII (of 10)
Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
British Dictionary definitions for aurochs aurochs noun plural -rochs
- a recently extinct member of the cattle tribe, Bos primigenius, that inhabited forests in N Africa, Europe, and SW Asia. It had long horns and is thought to be one of the ancestors of modern cattleAlso called: urus
Word Origin for aurochs C18: from German, from Old High German ūrohso, from ūro bison + ohso ox Word Origin and History for aurochs n.
1766, misapplication to the European bison (Bos bison) of a word that actually refers to a species of wild ox (Bos ursus) that went extinct 17c., from German Aurochs, from Old High German urohso, from uro “aurochs” (cognate with Old English ur, Old Norse ürr), of unknown origin, + ohso “ox” (see ox). Latin urus and Greek ouros are Germanic loan-words.