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wisent (VEE-suhnt) - n., the European bison (Bison bonasus).
Not to be confused with the auroch, which is a wild ox whose domesticated form is the cow. This bison is smaller and slightly more gracile than the American bison (Bison bison), and can be seen in many a cave painting. There are about 4500 wisent still living in the wild, with the largest populations in Poland and Belarus. The word is from German, from Old High German wisant, from Proto-Germanic *wisundaz, cognate of Greek bísōn, from which we get the bison form.
---L.
Not to be confused with the auroch, which is a wild ox whose domesticated form is the cow. This bison is smaller and slightly more gracile than the American bison (Bison bison), and can be seen in many a cave painting. There are about 4500 wisent still living in the wild, with the largest populations in Poland and Belarus. The word is from German, from Old High German wisant, from Proto-Germanic *wisundaz, cognate of Greek bísōn, from which we get the bison form.
---L.
