A large extinct wild ox with long horns that lived in Europe and was hunted to extinction by the 1600s.
From German Aurochs, from Old Norse úrr meaning the wild ox, plus German Ochs 'ox.' The animal was known in ancient Rome and appears in medieval hunting texts.
Aurochs were so impressively huge and dangerous that they appear in cave paintings, Roman mosaics, and medieval tapestries—they were basically the dinosaurs of ancient Europe that humans witnessed going extinct.
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