bison
/ˈbaɪ̯sən/noun
bison is spelled B-I-S-O-N: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bison means “A large, wild bovid of the genus Bison” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bison?
| Letters | 5: B-I-S-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,629th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bison?
Bison appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bison?
- US /ˈbaɪ̯sən/
Bison has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bison.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bison
- bisontes plural, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bison mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A large, wild bovid of the genus Bison.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bison in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bison, bison d'Europe , bison d'Amérique du Nord |
| German | Wisent , Bison, Amerikanischer Bison |
| Portuguese | auroque, bisão, bisão-europeu, bisonte , bisão-americano |
| Spanish | bisonte europeo, cíbolo europeo , bisonte americano, cíbolo americano |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bison come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).