Meaning & use
wisent
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabletechnical
A large wild ox with a humped back and shaggy brown fur that lives in European forests.
Grammar: Countable: one wisent, two wisents; the plural is usually wisent or wisents.
Patterns
- a herd of wisent
- the European wisent
The last wild wisent was shot in the early twentieth century.
A small herd of wisent now grazes in these woods.
Zoos have bred wisent and released them back into the forest.
Word forms
| plural | wisent |
|---|---|
| plural | wisents |
Common combinations
- a herd of wisent
- A herd of wisent moved slowly through the snow.
- wild wisent
- Wild wisent were once almost extinct in Europe.
- breed wisent
- Conservationists breed wisent in special reserves.
- the European wisent
- The European wisent is heavier than its American cousin.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- bison noun
- A closely related, very similar animal, especially the North American kind.
Commonly confused: wisent or visent?
wisent vs visent
Visent is a misspelling; the correct English spelling is wisent with a w.
Practice
Which sentence uses the word correctly?
Choose one answer.
A herd is a single group, so the verb is singular: 'A herd of wisent was grazing.' The plural forms wisents and wisent are both possible, but the subject here is herd, not wisent.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wisent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.