Where does “oxen” come from?
oxen (Middle English) comes from Old English oxan, from Old English oxa, from Proto-West Germanic ohsō, from Proto-Germanic uhsô, from Proto-Indo-European uksḗn, from Proto-Indo-European h₂ug-s-ḗn.
oxen (Middle English): Alternative form of axen
Ancestry of “oxen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | oxan | inflection of oxa:
## nominative plural
##... |
| 2 | Old English | oxa | ox |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | ohsō | ox |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | uhsô | ox |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | uksḗn | bull |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ug-s-ḗn | — |
Words derived from “oxen”