Phrase guide

musk ox

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

large shaggy-coated bovid mammal of Canada and Greenland; intermediate in size and anatomy between an ox and a sheep

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: musk sheep, Ovibos moschatus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bovid

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

42 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: мускусен бик (muskusen bik) — Arctic mammal
  • Catalan: bou mesquer — Arctic mammal
  • Cherokee: ᏧᏴᏢ ᏯᎾᏌ (tsuyvtlv yanasa) — Arctic mammal
  • Chinese Mandarin: 麝牛 (shèniú) — Arctic mammal
  • Czech: pižmoň — Arctic mammal
  • Danish: moskusokse — Arctic mammal
  • Dutch: muskusos — Arctic mammal
  • Estonian: muskusveis — Arctic mammal
  • Faroese: moskusneyt — Arctic mammal
  • Finnish: myskihärkä — Arctic mammal
  • French: bœuf musqué — Arctic mammal
  • German: Moschusochse — Arctic mammal
  • Greek: μοσχόβους (moschóvous) — Arctic mammal
  • Greek: προβατόβους ο μοσχοφόρος (provatóvous o moschofóros) — Arctic mammal
  • Greenlandic: umimmak — Arctic mammal
  • Icelandic: sauðnaut — Arctic mammal
  • Inuktitut: ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃ (omingmak) — Arctic mammal
  • Italian: bue muschiato — Arctic mammal
  • Japanese: 麝香牛 (jakōushi) — Arctic mammal
  • Korean: 사향소 (sahyangso) — Arctic mammal
  • Northern Kurdish: gayê miskî — Arctic mammal
  • Northern Kurdish: miskga — Arctic mammal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: moskusfe — Arctic mammal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: moskusokse — Arctic mammal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: moskus — Arctic mammal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: moskusku — Arctic mammal
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: moskusfe — Arctic mammal
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: moskusokse — Arctic mammal
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: moskus — Arctic mammal
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: moskusku — Arctic mammal
  • Polish: piżmowół — Arctic mammal
  • Polish: piżmowół arktyczny — Arctic mammal
  • Polish: wół piżmowy — Arctic mammal
  • Portuguese: boi-almiscarado — Arctic mammal
  • Romanian: bou moscat — Arctic mammal
  • Russian: овцебы́к (ovcebýk) — Arctic mammal
  • Russian: му́скусный бык (múskusnyj byk) — Arctic mammal
  • Spanish: buey almizclero — Arctic mammal
  • Swedish: myskoxe — Arctic mammal
  • Turkish: misk öküzü — Arctic mammal
  • Uyghur: ئىپاركالا (iparkala) — Arctic mammal
  • Vietnamese: bò xạ hương — Arctic mammal