Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

musk ox

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.18 in modern English

Syllables: musk ox
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

1

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An Arctic mammal, Ovibos moschatus of the Caprinae subfamily of the family Bovidae, having a thick coat and long curved horns.

Example Sentences

"Its ʽcore faunaʼ consisted of the woolly mammoth, woolly rhino, saiga, muskox and the arctic fox. All except the woolly rhino evolved in the northern Arctic, and all had been evolving for several million years before their modern forms appeared."

Etymology

So called because of the strong odour, or musk, emitted by the males during the rutting season.

Inflected Forms

musk oxen (plural) muskox (alternative)

Synonyms

musk sheep ovibos moschatus

Questions

What does musk ox mean?: An Arctic mammal, Ovibos moschatus of the Caprinae subfamily of the family Bovidae, having a thick coat and long curved horns.
Where does musk ox come from?: So called because of the strong odour, or musk, emitted by the males during the rutting season.

How to pronounce musk ox

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