Aurochs - Taxonomy and Etymology

Taxonomy and Etymology

The aurochs was variously classified as Bos primigenius, Bos taurus, or, in old sources, Bos urus. However, in 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature "conserved the usage of 17 specific names based on wild species, which are pre-dated by or contemporary with those based on domestic forms", confirming Bos primigenius for the Aurochs. Taxonomists who consider domesticated cattle a subspecies of the wild Aurochs should use B. primigenius taurus; the name B. taurus remains available for domestic cattle where it is considered to be a separate species.

The words "aurochs", "urus", and "wisent" have all been used synonymously in English. However, the extinct aurochs/urus is a completely separate species from the still-extant wisent. The two were often confused, and some 16th-century illustrations of aurochs and wisents have hybrid features. The word urus (/ˈjʊərəs/) comes to English from Latin, but may have come to Latin from Germanic origins. It declines in English as urus (singular), uruses (plural). In the German language, Ur developed into Auer following a diphthongization in the language during the 13th century. Later, "-ochs" was added, which is meant to refer to a wild bovine. Thus the German name of the animal turned to Auerochs/Auerochse.

The word "aurochs" comes to English from German, where its normal spelling and declension today is Auerochs/Auerochse (singular), Auerochsen (genitive), Auerochsen (plural). The declension in English varies, being either "auroch" (singular), "aurochs" (plural) or "aurochs" (singular), "aurochses" (plural). The declension "auroch" (singular), "aurochs" (plural), acknowledged by MWU, is a back-formation, analogous to "pea"-from-"pease", derived from a misinterpretation of the singular form ending in the /s/ sound (being cognate to "ox/Ochs(e)"). The use in English of the plural form "aurochsen" is not acknowledged by AHD4 or MWU, but is mentioned in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. It is directly parallel to the German plural and analogous (and cognate) to English "ox" (singular), "oxen" (plural).

The name of the aurochs in other languages are also derived from "urus"; for example uro in (Spanish) and urokse in (Danish).