View source for Ox

{{Short description|Common bovine draft and riding animal}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Aurochs|Muskox}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2019}}
[[File:India.Mumbai.04.jpg|right|thumb|[[Zebu]] oxen in [[Mumbai, India]]]]
[[File:Ploughing with Oxen.jpg|thumb|''Ploughing with Oxen'' by George H. Harvey, Nova Scotia, Canada, 1881]]
[[File:Traditional Farming Methods and Equipments.jpg|thumb|Oxen used for plowing, 2013]]
[[File:Niger, Filingué (35), boy on ox-drawn cart.jpg|thumb|right|Boy on an ox-drawn cart in [[Niger]]]]
[[File:Ox skull.jpg|thumb|Ox skull]]
An '''ox''' ({{plural form}}: '''oxen'''), also known as a '''bullock''' (in [[BrE|British]], [[AusE|Australian]], and [[IndE|Indian English]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bullock |title=BULLOCK &#124; meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary |publisher=Dictionary.cambridge.org |date=2022年05月25日 |accessdate=2022年05月31日}}</ref> is a large [[bovine]], trained and used as a [[draft animal]]. Oxen are commonly [[castration|castrated]] adult male [[cattle]], because castration inhibits [[testosterone]] and aggression, which makes the males docile and safer to work with. Cows (intact females) or bulls (intact males) may also be used in some areas.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026年03月19日 |title=OX definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ox |access-date=2026年03月24日 |website=www.collinsdictionary.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024年07月02日 |title=Understanding domestic bovine: Exploring the Meaning of Ox |url=https://we-empower.co/oxen-powering-sustainable-agriculture |access-date=2026年03月24日 |language=en-US}}</ref>
Oxen are used for ploughing, for transport (pulling carts, hauling wagons and even riding), for threshing grain by trampling, and for powering machines that grind grain or supply irrigation among other purposes. Oxen may be also used to skid logs in forests, particularly in low-impact, select-cut logging.
Oxen are usually [[yoke]]d in pairs. Light work such as carting household items on good roads might require just one pair, while for heavier work, further pairs would be added as necessary. A team used for a heavy load over difficult ground might exceed nine or ten pairs.
Oxen are thought to have first been harnessed and put to work around 4000 BC.<ref name="domestication">{{cite web | url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=ab57 | title=History of the domestication of animals | publisher=HistoryWorld | access-date=September 17, 2012 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124035129/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab57 | archive-date=November 24, 2012 }}</ref>, and they are also a religious/biblical figure as well.
== Etymology ==
The word ''ox'' derives from the reconstructed [[Proto-Indo-European root]] ''*uks-en-'', translated as {{gloss|male animal}}. The term has been reconstructed using [[Cognate|cognates]] from several separate branches of [[Indo-European languages]]: [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|ych}} meaning {{gloss|ox}}, [[Middle Irish]] {{lang|mga|oss}} {{gloss|stag}}, [[Avestan]] {{lang|ae|uxshan-}} {{gloss|ox}} or {{gloss|bull}}, and [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa-Latn|uksa}}, inferred to relate to cattle. Welsh and Middle Irish are [[Celtic languages]], while Avestan and Sanskrit are [[Indo-Iranian languages]]. The wide usage of the root throughout [[Eurasia]] serves as evidence for the existence of shared Proto-Indo-European ancestry.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Oxen - Etymology, Origin & Meaning |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/oxen |access-date=2026年03月25日 |website=etymonline |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Proto-Indo-European language {{!}} Discovery, Reconstruction, Divergence, Structure, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Proto-Indo-European-language |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260312113249/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Proto-Indo-European-language |archive-date=2026年03月12日 |access-date=2026年03月25日 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>
The prefix ''*uks-en-'' is possibly from the reconstructed root ''*uks-'' which has been translated as {{gloss|to sprinkle}}. It could also relate to ''ugw-'', relating to {{gloss|wet}} or {{gloss|moist}}. Therefore, ''*uks-en-'' could be translated to {{gloss|[[wikt:besprinkler|besprinkler]]}}. Another interpretation could take the ''en-'' root, meaning {{gloss|onto}}, into account, translating the term as {{gloss|to sprinkle onto}}.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zimmer |first=Stefan |date=2009年01月01日 |title=2009 'Sacrifice' in Proto-Indo-European |url=https://www.academia.edu/2945244/2009_Sacrifice_in_Proto_Indo_European |journal=Journal of Indo-European Studies 37}}</ref>
The reconstructed [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] word ''*ukhson'', meaning {{gloss|ox}}, derives from the Proto-Indo-European root ''*uks-en-''. The word led to terms meaning {{gloss|ox}} used in [[East Germanic languages|East]], [[West Germanic languages|West]], and [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] languages: [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|oxi}}, [[Old Frisian]] {{lang|ofs|oxa}}, [[Middle Dutch]] {{lang|dum|osse}}, [[Old High German]] {{lang|goh|ohso}}, [[German language|German]] {{lang|de|ochse}}, and [[Gothic language|Gothic]] {{lang|got|auhsa}}. The term then evolved into the [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|oxa}} and later into [[Middle English]] {{lang|enm|oxe}}. Its current form, ''ox'', has come to mean {{gloss|a domestic bovine mammal}} or, broadly, {{gloss|a bovine mammal}}.<ref>"Ox". ''Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary'', Merriam-Webster, <nowiki>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ox</nowiki>. Accessed 25 Mar. 2026.</ref> Some definitions specify an ox as a "bull that has been castrated".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026年03月19日 |title=OX definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ox |access-date=2026年03月25日 |website=www.collinsdictionary.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
==Training==
[[File:Tang Bronze Ox.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tang dynasty]] bronze ox]]
[[File:Bullock wagon Promontory Road.jpg|right|thumb|A team of ten pair of oxen in Australia, 1937]]
In the [[New England]] tradition, young castrated cattle selected for draft are known as ''working steers'' and are trained from a young age. Their teamster makes or buys as many as a dozen yokes of different sizes for each animal as it grows. The steers are normally considered fully trained at the age of four and only then become known as oxen.<ref name=Conroy>{{cite book|last=Conroy|first=Drew|title=Oxen, A Teamster's Guide|year=2007|publisher=Storey Publishing|location=North Adams, Massachusetts, USA|isbn=978-1-58017-693-4}}</ref>
Pairs of oxen were always hitched the same way round, and they were often given paired names. In southern England, it was traditional to call the near-side (left) ox of a pair by a single-syllable name and the off-side (right) one by a longer one (for example: Lark and Linnet, Turk and Tiger).<ref>Copper, Bob, ''A Song for Every Season: A Hundred Years of a Sussex Farming Family'' (pp 95–100), Heinemann 1971</ref>
Ox trainers favour larger animals for their ability to do more work. Oxen are therefore usually of larger breeds, and are usually males because they are generally larger. Females can also be trained as oxen, but as well as being smaller are often more valued for producing calves and milk. Bulls (intact males) are also used in many parts of the world, especially in Asia and Africa.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.odi.org.uk/work/projects/pdn/papers/32b.pdf |first=John C. |last=Barret |year=1991|title=The Economic Role of Cattle in Communal Farming Systems in Zimbabwe|journal=Zimbabwe Veterinary Journal|page=10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918135957/http://www.odi.org.uk/work/projects/pdn/papers/32b.pdf |archive-date=2012年09月18日 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org:80/ag/ags/agse/chapterps1/chapterps1-e.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701114759/http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/agse/chapterps1/chapterps1-e.htm|url-status=dead|title=Draught Animal Power ... An Overview|archivedate=July 1, 2010|website=www.fao.org}}</ref>
==Shoeing==
Working oxen usually require shoes,<ref name=fw /> although in England not all working oxen were shod.<ref name=watts>{{cite book|last=Watts|first=Martin|title=Working oxen|year=1999|publisher=Shire|location=Princes Risborough|isbn=0-7478-0415-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u86yjr-J-hAC |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140612033405/http://books.google.com/books?id=u86yjr-J-hAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0|archive-date=2014年06月12日}}</ref> Since their hooves are cloven, two shoes are required for each hoof, as opposed to a single shoe for horses. Ox shoes are usually of approximately half-moon or banana shape, either with or without [[caulkin]]s, and are fitted in symmetrical pairs to the hooves. Unlike horses, oxen are not easily able to balance on three legs while a farrier shoes the fourth.<ref name=fw /><ref name=osv /> 
In England, shoeing was accomplished by throwing the ox to the ground and lashing all four feet to a heavy wooden tripod until the shoeing was complete.<ref name=fw>{{cite journal|last= Williams|first= Michael|title= The Living Tractor|journal= Farmers Weekly|date= 17 September 2004|url= http://www.foxearth.org.uk/oxen.html|access-date= 22 May 2011|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110303114656/http://www.foxearth.org.uk/oxen.html|archive-date= 3 March 2011}}</ref> A similar technique was used in Serbia<ref name=iln>{{cite journal|last=Schomberg|first=A.|title=Shoeing oxen and horses at a Servian smithy|journal=The Illustrated London News|date=7 November 1885|url=http://www.old-print.com/mas_assets/full/N7341934252.jpg|access-date=22 May 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004061233/http://www.old-print.com/mas_assets/full/N7341934252.jpg|archive-date=4 October 2011}}</ref> and, in a simpler form, in India,<ref name=ind>{{cite web|title=Blacksmith shoeing a Bullock, Calcutta, India|url=http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0etVJGROo60/SSujNVwhiJI/AAAAAAAABOc/Kru9OC73FEE/s320/India%2B-%2B100%2Byears%2Bago%2B-%2BBlacksmith%2Bshoeing%2Ba%2Bbullock,%2BCalcutta,%2BKolkata.jpg&imgrefurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0etVJGROo60/SSujNVwhiJI/AAAAAAAABOc/Kru9OC73FEE/s320/India+-+100+years+ago+-+Blacksmith+shoeing+a+bullock,+Calcutta,+Kolkata.jpg|publisher=Stereo-Travel Co.|access-date=22 May 2011|format=stereoscope card (half only)|year=1908}}</ref> where it is still practiced.<ref name=ind2>{{cite web|title=Restraining and Shoeing|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/aliaaaaa/166239317/sizes/l/in/photostream/|access-date=22 May 2011|author=Aliaaaaa|location=Bangalore, Karnataka, India|year=2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220052234/http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliaaaaa/166239317/sizes/l/in/photostream/|archive-date=20 December 2013}}</ref> 
In Italy, where oxen may be very large, shoeing is accomplished using a massive framework of beams in which the animal can be partly or completely lifted from the ground by slings passed under the body; the feet are then lashed to lateral beams or held with a rope while the shoes are fitted.<ref name=tac>{{cite web|last=Tacchini|first=Alvaro|title=La ferratura dei buoi|url=http://www.storiatifernate.it/pubblicazioni.php?&cat=51&subcat=120&group=253&id=578|access-date=22 May 2011|language=it|quote=The shoeing of the oxen|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211224451/http://www.storiatifernate.it/pubblicazioni.php?&cat=51&subcat=120&group=253&id=578|archive-date=11 December 2013}}</ref><ref name=serr>{{cite web|title=Tradizioni - Serramanna|url=http://www.serramanna.altervista.org/tradizioni.htm|access-date=22 May 2011|language=it, sc|quote=Serramanna: traditions|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007114635/http://www.serramanna.altervista.org/tradizioni.htm|archive-date=7 October 2011}}</ref>
Such devices were made of wood in the past, but may today be of metal. Similar devices are found in France, Austria, Germany, Spain, Canada and the United States, where they may be called ox slings, ox presses or shoeing stalls.<ref name=osv>{{cite web|last=Baker|first=Andrew|title=Well Trained to the Yoke: Working Oxen on the Village's Historical Farms|url=http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?Action=View&DocID=899|publisher=Old Sturbridge Village|access-date=22 May 2011|year=1989|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926233152/http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?Action=View&DocID=899|archive-date=26 September 2011}}</ref><ref name=wet2>{{cite journal|title=Did You Know?|journal=Wet/Dry Routes Chapter Newsletter|year=1997|volume=4|issue=4|url=http://www.santafetrailresearch.com/wet/vol-06-no-4.html|access-date=22 May 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722134343/http://www.santafetrailresearch.com/wet/vol-06-no-4.html|archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref> 
The system was sometimes adopted in England also, where the device was called a [[Cattle crush|crush]] or trevis; one example is recorded in the [[Vale of Pewsey]].<ref name=watts /> The shoeing of an ox partly lifted in a sling is the subject of [[John Singer Sargent]]'s painting ''Shoeing the Ox'',<ref name=sarg>{{cite web|last=John Singer Sargent|title=Shoeing the Ox|url=http://www.johnsingersargent.org/Shoeing-the-Ox-large.html|access-date=18 August 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711000249/http://www.johnsingersargent.org/Shoeing-the-Ox-large.html|archive-date=11 July 2016}}</ref> while ''A Smith Shoeing an Ox'' by [[Karel Dujardin]] shows an ox being shod standing, tied to a post by the horns and balanced by supporting the raised hoof.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px" style="text-align:left; font-size: 86%;">
File:Ox shoe.jpg|A single left-hand ox shoe of the type used for large [[Chianina]] oxen in [[Tuscany]]
File:Karel Dujardin - A Smith Shoeing an Ox.jpg|Karel Dujardin, 1622–1678: ''A Smith Shoeing an Ox''
File:2008年04月18日.VorrichtungZumBeschlagenVonOchsen.DorfmuseumMoenchhof.33.JPG|Ox shoeing sling in the Dorfmuseum of [[Mönchhof]], Austria; a pair of ox shoes is attached to the near left column.
</gallery>
==Uses and comparison to horses==
[[File:Sixten.jpg|right|thumb|Riding an ox in [[Hova, Sweden]], 2009]]
Oxen can pull heavier loads, and pull for a longer period of time than horses, depending on weather conditions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Taylor|first=Tess|title=On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/dining/04oxen.html |access-date=19 June 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 3, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522213735/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/dining/04oxen.html?_r=4&sq=Oxen&st=cse&scp=3&pagewanted=all|archive-date=22 May 2013}}</ref> 
On the other hand, they are also slower than horses, which has both advantages and disadvantages. Their pulling style is steadier, but they cannot travel as far in a given period of time. For agricultural purposes, oxen are more suitable for heavy tasks such as breaking sod or plowing in wet, heavy, or clay-filled soil. 
When hauling freight, oxen can move very heavy loads in a slow and steady fashion. They are not as useful as horses when it is necessary to pull a plow or load of freight relatively quickly.
For millennia, oxen also could pull heavier loads because of the use of the [[yoke]], which was designed to work best with the neck and shoulder anatomy of cattle. Until the invention of the [[horse collar]], which allowed the horse to engage the pushing power of its hindquarters in moving a load, horses could not pull with their full strength because the yoke was incompatible with their anatomy.<ref>{{cite web|last=Conroy|first=Drew|title=Dr.|url=http://www.taws.org/TAWS2004/TAWS04-Conroy-040419-A4-all.pdf|work=Ox Yokes: Culture, Comfort and Animal Welfare|publisher=World Association for Transport Animal Welfare and Studies (TAWS)|access-date=21 February 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322111111/http://www.taws.org/TAWS2004/TAWS04-Conroy-040419-A4-all.pdf|archive-date=22 March 2012}}</ref> Yokes press on their chest, inhibiting their breathing.{{cn|date=October 2021}}
==Types of oxen==
{{expand section|date=October 2025}}
The following are types of oxen:
* [[American Brahman]]
* [[American Milking Devon]]
* [[Ayrshire cattle]]
* [[Brown Swiss cattle]]
* [[Chianina]]
* [[Dutch Belted]]
* [[English Longhorn]]
* [[Hariana cattle]]
* [[Holstein Friesian]]
* [[North Devon cattle]]
* [[Ongole cattle]]
* [[Shorthorn]]
* [[Water buffalo]]
* [[Zebu]]
==See also==
* [[Aurochs]]
* [[Ox (zodiac)]]
* [[Ox in Chinese mythology]]
* [[Oxtail]]
* [[Bœuf Gras|Boeuf gras]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Oxen}}
{{Working animals}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Cattle]]
[[Category:Pack animals]]
[[Category:Working animals]]
[[ca:Bou]]