Etymology
The modern English word "wisent" is borrowed from modern German Wisent ( ), which comes from Germanic *wisund (cf. Old Norse visundr, Old High German wisunt); the Old English word wesend from this root became extinct in premodern times.
The English word "bison" is borrowed from Latin but derives from the same Germanic word. The name "bison" started to be used in English in the late Middle Ages, and "wisent" in the 19th century.
Read more about this topic: European Bison
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)