"ox" in seven languages
Meaningox
Spanish
buey
/bwej/
masc.inherited
French
bœuf
/bœf/
masc.inherited
plural: bœufs [bø]
Also 'beef'; the plural drops the f in speech.
Italian
bue
/ˈbue/
masc.inherited
plural: buoi
The plural buoi shows the uo of open o.
Portuguese
boi
/boj/
masc.inherited
Romanian
bou
/bow/
masc.inherited
Catalan
bou
/bɔw/
masc.inherited
English
ox
/ɑks/
native English · Old English oxa
plural: oxen
Beef is the shared word, from Old French buef.
English → ItalianoxbueNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: beef, bovine.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
BOVEM (nom. BŌS)‘ox, cow’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Open Ŏ breaks into ue in Spanish (buey), œu in French (bœuf) and uo in the Italian plural (buoi). English took the French word for the meat only: the animal is an ox, its meat beef, as with pork and mutton.
English relatives: beef, bovine
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl buey tira del carro.
- frLe bœuf tire la charrette.
- itIl bue tira il carro.
- ptO boi puxa a carroça.
- roBoul trage căruța.
- caEl bou estira el carro.
- enThe ox is pulling the cart.