Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bison

/ˈbaɪ̯sən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.26 in modern English

Syllables
bi-son
IPA
/ˈbaɪ̯sən/
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A city and town in Kansas.

name

A town, the county seat of Perkins County, South Dakota.

noun

A large, wild bovid of the genus Bison.

Etymology

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.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈbaɪ̯sən/
  • British English: /ˈbaɪ̯sən/

Inflected Forms

bisons (dated, plural) bisontes (plural, rare)

Phrases

American bison bison grass European bison Higgs bison Indian bison North American bison plains bison steppe bison

Frequently Paired Words

bovid bovine buffalo cattle cow wisent

Rhymes With

tyson dyson bryson eisen theisen hyson theissen nicen geisen ricin vison icen

Questions

How do you pronounce bison?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbaɪ̯sən/.
What does bison mean?
A city and town in Kansas.
Where does bison come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce bison

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bison”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbaɪ̯sən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “bison”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “bison” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.