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Origin and history of bison

bison(n.)

c. 1600, "European wild ox," from French bison (15c.), from Latin bison "wild ox," borrowed from Proto-Germanic *wisand- "aurochs" (source also of 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).

The animal formerly was widespread on the continent, including the British Isles, but in 20c. they survived in the wild only on a forest reserve in Poland. Not to be confused with the aurochs. The name also was applied 1690s to the North American species commonly mis-called a buffalo, which formerly ranged as far as Virginia and Georgia but by 1902 was deemed by Century Dictionary "apparently soon to become extinct as a wild animal." It has since recovered numbers on federal land. Related: Bisontine.

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to bison

aurochs(n.)

1766, a misapplication to the European bison (Bos bison) of a word that actually refers to a species of wild cattle (Bos ursus) that went extinct early 17c.; from German Aurochs, from Old High German urohso, from uro "aurochs" (cognate with Old English ur, Old Norse ürr), which is of unknown origin, + ohso "ox" (see ox). Latin urus and Greek ouros are Germanic loan-words.

buffalo(n.)

1580s (earlier buffel, 1510s, from French), from Portuguese bufalo "water buffalo," from Medieval Latin bufalus, variant of Latin bubalus "wild ox," from Greek boubalos "buffalo," originally the name of a kind of African antelope, later used of a type of domesticated ox in southern Asia and the Mediterranean lands, a word of uncertain origin. It appears to contain bous "ox, cow" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"), but this is perhaps Greek folk-etymology.

It has been wrongly applied since 1630s to the American bison. The other Germanic words (Dutch buffel, German Büffel, Danish böffel, etc.) are from French; from Medieval Latin come Russian buivolu, Polish bujwoł, Bulgarian bivol, etc. Buffalo gnat is recorded from 1822. Buffalo chip "dung of the American bison," used for fuel on the U.S. plains, is from 1840.

weasel(n.)

small, carnivorous mammal proverbial for its cunning, Middle English wesel, from Old English weosule, wesle "weasel," from Proto-Germanic *wisulon (source also of Old Norse visla, Middle Dutch wesel, Dutch wezel, Old High German wisula, German Wiesel).

This is of obscure origin, said in Watkins to be probably related to Proto-Germanic *wisand- "bison" (see bison), with a base sense of "stinking animal," because both animals have a foul, musky smell (compare Latin vissio "stench").

A John Wesilheued ("John Weaselhead") turns up on the Lincolnshire Assize Rolls for 1384, but the surname seems not to have endured. Related: Weaselly.

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