Meanings
aurochs1
plural aurochsen · plural aurochses · alternative auroch · alternative aurox
- An extinct European mammal, Bos primigenius, the ancestor of domestic cattle.
- biologyThe European bison (Bos bonasus, or Europæus).
aurochs2
- pluralplural of auroch
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEuropean bison having a smaller and higher head than the North American bison
nounlarge recently extinct long-horned European wild ox; considered one of the ancestors of domestic cattle
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
aurochs · noun
- Proto-Germanic*ūraz
- Old High Germanūrohso“aurochs”
- Middle High Germanūrochse“aurochs”
- GermanAurochs
- Englishaurochs
Borrowed from German Aurochs, an early variant of Auerochse, from Middle High German ūrochse (“aurochs”), from Old High German ūrohso (“aurochs”), a compound consisting of ūro (“aurochs”) (from Proto-Germanic *ūraz, *ūrô (“aurochs”)) + ohso (“ox”). Akin to Old English ūr (“aurochs”), Old Norse úrr (“aurochs”), Middle Low German ūrosse (“aurochs”), Old English oxa (“ox”). More at ox.
More words from German, Middle High German, Old High German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βόνασος
- βόνασος (bónasos)Bos primigenius
Arabic أُرْخُص
- أُرْخُص (ʔurḵuṣ)Bos primigenius
Catalan ur
- urBos primigenius
Chinese Mandarin 原牛
- 原牛 (yuánniú)Bos primigenius
Czech pratur
- praturBos primigenius
Dutch oeros
- oerosBos primigenius
Esperanto uro
- uroBos primigenius
Estonian tarvas, ürgveis
- tarvasBos primigenius
- ürgveisBos primigenius
Finnish alkuhärkä, ? tarvas
- alkuhärkäBos primigenius
- ? tarvasBos primigenius
French aurochs
- aurochsBos primigenius
German Auerochse, Ur
- AuerochseBos primigenius
- UrBos primigenius
Greek ούρος, βους ο πρωτογενής
- ούρος (oúros)Bos primigenius
- βους ο πρωτογενής (vous o protogenís)Bos primigenius
Hungarian őstulok
- őstulokBos primigenius
Icelandic úruxi
- úruxiBos primigenius
Irish áracs
- áracsBos primigenius
Italian uro
- uroBos primigenius
Latin ūrus
- ūrusBos primigenius
Latvian taurs
- taursBos primigenius
Norwegian Bokmål urokse
- urokseBos primigenius
Persian ارکس
- ارکس (oroks)Bos primigenius
Polish tur, tur leśny
- turBos primigenius
- tur leśnyBos primigenius
Portuguese uro, uroque
- uroBos primigenius
- uroqueBos primigenius
- auroqueBos primigenius
Romanian bour
- bourBos primigenius
Russian тур
- тур (tur)Bos primigenius
Spanish uro
- uroBos primigenius
Swedish uroxe
- uroxeBos primigenius
Tagalog uro
- uroBos primigenius
Turkish yaban öküzü
- yaban öküzüBos primigenius
Vietnamese bò rừng châu Âu, bò Tur
- bò rừng châu ÂuBos primigenius
- bò TurBos primigenius
Welsh cynfual
- cynfualBos primigenius
Cite this entry
aurochs. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aurochs
“aurochs.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aurochs. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aurochs,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aurochs.
Source: aurochs on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.