Meaning & use
bovid
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablebiologytechnical
A hoofed, cud-chewing mammal of the family that includes cattle, sheep, goats, bison, and antelopes.
Grammar: A scientific term: bovids include cows and goats.
Patterns
- a wild bovid
The zoologist studied how each bovid digests grass.
Bison is a large North American bovid.
Fossils of an extinct bovid were found in the cave.
adjectivebefore a nounbiologytechnical
Belonging to or relating to this family of animals.
Grammar: Used before a noun: bovid species.
Patterns
- bovid species
Several bovid species graze on the plateau.
The skull has typical bovid horns.
Bovid evolution produced many antelope types.
Word forms
| plural | bovids |
|---|
Common combinations
- wild bovid
- The ibex is a wild bovid of the mountains.
- bovid species
- Over a hundred bovid species exist today.
- bovid horns
- Bovid horns are never shed.
- extinct bovid
- An extinct bovid left bones in the cave.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
Commonly confused: bovid or bovine? bovid or cervid?
bovid vs bovine
Bovine usually means relating to cattle, while bovid covers a wider family including goats and antelope.
bovid vs cervid
A cervid is a deer, a different family whose antlers are shed each year.
Practice
A goat, a bison and an antelope all belong to the same animal family, so each is a ____.
Choose one answer.
Bovid is the family that contains goats, bison and antelope. Cervids are deer, canids dogs, and felids cats.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bovid”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.