Meanings
bison1
nounbison (plural bison or (chiefly dated) bisons or (rare) bisontes)
dated plural bisons · plural rare bisontes
Bison2
proper noun
- A town, the county seat of Perkins County, South Dakota.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*wisundaz“wild ox, aurochs”
- Latinbisōn, bisōnt-“wild ox”
- Middle Frenchbison
- Middle Englishbysontes
- Englishbison
From Middle English bysontes, bysountes pl, from Middle French bison, from Latin bisōn, bisōnt- (“wild ox”). The Latin term is recorded in the 1st century, likely a direct loan from Proto-Germanic *wisundaz (“wild ox, aurochs”) (see for full etymology). Akin to Old High German wisunt (“bison”), German Wisent (“bison”), Old English wesend, wusend (“bison, buffalo, wild ox”), Middle Dutch wēsent (“wild ox”). Doublet of wisent.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βόνασος, βόλινθος
- βόνασος (bónasos)European bison, Bison bonasus
- βόλινθος (bólinthos)European bison, Bison bonasus
Arabic بِيسُون
- بِيسُون (bīsūn)European bison, Bison bonasus
Bulgarian зу́бър, бизо́н
- зу́бър (zúbăr)European bison, Bison bonasus
- бизо́н (bizón)European bison, Bison bonasus
- бизон (bizon)American bison, Bison bison
Catalan bisó
- bisóEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Chinese Mandarin 野牛
- 野牛 (yěniú)European bison, Bison bonasus
Czech zubr, bizon evropský
- zubrEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bizon evropskýEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bizonAmerican bison, Bison bison
- bizon americkýAmerican bison, Bison bison
Danish bisonokse
- bisonokseAmerican bison, Bison bison
Dutch Europese bizon, wisent
- Europese bizonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- wisentEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- Amerikaanse bizonAmerican bison, Bison bison
Esperanto bizono, bizono
- bizonoEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bizonoAmerican bison, Bison bison
Estonian pürg
- pürgEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Finnish visentti, euroopanbiisoni
- visenttiEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- euroopanbiisoniEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- biisoniAmerican bison, Bison bison
- amerikanbiisoniAmerican bison, Bison bison
French bison, bison d'Europe
- bisonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bison d'EuropeEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisonAmerican bison, Bison bison
- bison d'Amérique du NordAmerican bison, Bison bison
German Wisent, Bison
- WisentEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- BisonAmerican bison, Bison bison
- Amerikanischer BisonAmerican bison, Bison bison
Greek βίσονας, βίσονας
- βίσονας (vísonas)European bison, Bison bonasus
- βίσονας (vísonas)American bison, Bison bison
Hungarian bölény, amerikai bölény
- bölényEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- amerikai bölényAmerican bison, Bison bison
Icelandic vísundur
- vísundurEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Indonesian bison, bison
- bisonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisonAmerican bison, Bison bison
Irish bíosún, bíosún Meiriceánach
- bíosúnEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bíosún MeiriceánachAmerican bison, Bison bison
Italian bisonte
- bisonteEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Japanese 野牛, バイソン
- 野牛 (yagyū)European bison, Bison bonasus
- バイソン (baison)European bison, Bison bonasus
- 野牛 (yagyū)American bison, Bison bison
- アメリカ野牛 (Amerika yagyū)American bison, Bison bison
Korean 바이슨, 들소
- 바이슨 (baiseun)European bison, Bison bonasus
- 들소 (deulso)European bison, Bison bonasus
Latin bison
- bisonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Latvian sumbrs
- sumbrsEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Lithuanian stumbras
- stumbrasEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Malay bison
- bisonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Persian بایسن
- بایسن (bâyson)European bison, Bison bonasus
Polish żubr, bizon
- żubrEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bizonAmerican bison, Bison bison
Portuguese auroque, bisão
- auroqueEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisãoEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisão-europeuEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisonteEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisãoAmerican bison, Bison bison
- bisão-americanoAmerican bison, Bison bison
- bisonteAmerican bison, Bison bison
Romanian zimbru, bizon
- zimbruEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bizonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bizonAmerican bison, Bison bison
Russian зубр, бизо́н
- зубр (zubr)European bison, Bison bonasus
- бизо́н (bizón)European bison, Bison bonasus
- бизо́н (bizón)American bison, Bison bison
Scottish Gaelic bìoson, buabhall
- bìosonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- buabhallAmerican bison, Bison bison
- bìoson AmeireaganachAmerican bison, Bison bison
Slovak zubor, bizón
- zuborEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bizónEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
Spanish bisonte europeo, cíbolo europeo
- bisonte europeoEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- cíbolo europeoEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisonte americanoAmerican bison, Bison bison
- cíbolo americanoAmerican bison, Bison bison
Swahili baisani, baisani wa Marekani
- baisaniEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- baisani wa MarekaniAmerican bison, Bison bison
Swedish visent, europeisk bison
- visentEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- europeisk bisonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisonoxeAmerican bison, Bison bison
Ukrainian зубр, бізо́н
- зубр (zubr)European bison, Bison bonasus
- бізо́н (bizón)European bison, Bison bonasus
- бізо́н (bizón)American bison, Bison bison
- америка́нський бізо́н (amerykánsʹkyj bizón)American bison, Bison bison
- америка́нський зубр (amerykánsʹkyj zubr)American bison, Bison bison
Vietnamese bò rừng bizon, bò rừng bison
- bò rừng bizonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bò rừng bisonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bò rừngAmerican bison, Bison bison
Welsh bual, bual Ewropeaidd
- bualEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bual EwropeaiddEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bisonEuropean bison, Bison bonasus
- bualAmerican bison, Bison bison
- bual AmericanaiddAmerican bison, Bison bison
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bison
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
bison. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bison
MLA
“bison.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bison. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bison,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bison.
Source: bison on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.