*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of zebu

Borrowed from French zébu, probably from Tibetan མཛོ་པོ (mdzo po, “male bull–yak hybrid”), whence also zobo.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

A domesticated ox native to Asia and Africa, having a large fleshy hump on its back and a dewlap (Bos taurus indicus or bos indicus).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from French zébu, probably from Tibetan མཛོ་པོ (mdzo po, “male bull–yak hybrid”), whence also zobo.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "fr:zébu<id:Bos taurus indicus>",
        "id": "Bos taurus indicus",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "bor+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "zébu"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from French zébu"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "bo",
        "3": "མཛོ་པོ",
        "4": "",
        "5": "male bull–yak hybrid"
      },
      "expansion": "Tibetan མཛོ་པོ (mdzo po, “male bull–yak hybrid”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "fr:zébu<id:Bos taurus indicus>",
        "id": "Bos taurus indicus",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nClassical Tibetan མཛོ (mdzo)\nClassical Tibetan པོ (po)\nClassical Tibetan མཛོ་པོ (mdzo po)\nTibetan མཛོ་པོ (mdzo po)bor.?\nFrench zébubor.\nEnglish zebu"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "zébu",
      "zébu#French"
    ],
    [
      "མཛོ་པོ",
      "མཛོ་པོ#Tibetan"
    ],
    [
      "zobo",
      "zobo#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "lang_code": "id",
      "word": "zebu",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "word": "ゼブ",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "zebu"
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A domesticated ox native to Asia and Africa, having a large fleshy hump on its back and a dewlap (Bos taurus indicus or bos indicus)."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "8a3ee70bc1a91262837be92dc9f525f49e85ff666732fa72e56bc050b7f57565",
      "rawRecordSha256": "9309adc68e94e20794f0c92e0b57149dda18bfebd31f23438c5938f8305b051f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 243503
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for zebu →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-emVidQ