Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun, plural bi·son.
- Also called American bison, American buffalo. a North American, oxlike ruminant, Bison bison, having a large head and high, humped shoulders: formerly common in North America, its small remaining population in isolated western areas of the U.S. and Canada is now protected.
- Also called wisent. a related animal, Bison bonasus, of Europe, less shaggy and slightly larger than the American bison: now greatly reduced in number.
noun plural -son
- Also called: American bison, buffalo a member of the cattle tribe, Bison bison, formerly widely distributed over the prairies of W North America but now confined to reserves and parks, with a massive head, shaggy forequarters, and a humped back
- Also called: wisent, European bison a closely related and similar animal, Bison bonasus, formerly widespread in Europe
c.1600, from French bison (15c.), from Latin bison “wild ox,” borrowed from Proto-Germanic *wisand- “aurochs” (cf. Old Norse visundr, Old High German wisunt “bison,” Old English/Middle English wesend, which is not attested after c.1400). Possibly ultimately of Baltic or Slavic origin, and meaning “the stinking animal,” in reference to its scent while rutting (see weasel). A European wild ox formerly widespread on the continent, including the British Isles, now surviving on forest reserves in Lithuania. Applied 1690s to the North American species commonly mis-called a buffalo.