oxy
adjective, noun
oxy is an adjective meaning “Pertaining to an ox; ox-like” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled O-X-Y and has 2 syllables, and it appears about once in every 1 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does oxy mean?
adjective
- 1
rarePertaining to an ox; ox-like.
- 2
Containing one or more oxygen atoms.
noun
- 1
The bivalent R-O-R functional group found in ethers.
- 2
informalClipping of oxyacetylene, a mixture of oxygen and acetylene used for cutting and welding metals.
- 3
slangClipping of oxycodone, an opioid similar to heroin.
- 4
informalClipping of oxygen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce oxy?
- Australia
Oxy 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-oxy-.wav, En-au-oxy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of oxy
- more oxy comparative
- most oxy superlative
- oxies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is oxy?
Oxy appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th 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).
Where does oxy come from?
From ox + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).