Oxen

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɑksən/

Definitions

1. A domesticated breed of bovine animal known for its strength and ability to perform labor-intensive tasks in agriculture and transportation
2. Male cattle trained as draft animals, commonly used for pulling plows and carts
3. Domesticated bullocks used mainly for heavy work on farms and roads

Etymology: The plural "oxen" is a survivor from an older system of plurals. In Old English the singular was "oxa" and the plural was "oxan," and that "-an" ending was one of several ways English once formed plurals, alongside the "-s" we use today. Few such forms remain, which is why "oxen" stands out. Its ancestors reach back to Proto-Germanic, where the plural was built on a stem meaning "ox," and the "-en" we see now is the same plural marker that persists in "children" and "brethren." Because "oxen" is a plural, its history is largely that of the singular "ox" with the old plural ending attached. Over time the "-s" plural swept through most nouns, so "oxen" ended up as a fossil of a once-common pattern, kept alive by its everyday use for yoked draught cattle. Its meaning has stayed fixed: the animals that pulled ploughs and carts in farming life.

Synonyms: cattle