Oxen is the plural of ox.

Old English oxan, plural of oxa, was very common, appearing in the psalter, the bible, and laws, among other places, although the spelling oxen is attested in only one place, in a document relating to Bury St Edmund's possessions, rents, and grants.

The genitive plural form of oxa, often with a syncopated vowel, was ox(e)na. That genitive form is attested in place names (cf. oxenaford, Middle English Oxenford, ModE Oxford, oxeneham ModE Oxnam, oxenesetene ModE Oxsettle Bottom, oxnaleage ModE Oxleigh and Oxley , a woodland clearing or a natural glade, meadow, lea, a plant name oxna-lib glossing Latin oleotropius ModE oxlip, ox-heal), as a unit of measure of land (oxnagang, ModE ox-gang, one-eighth of a "hide"), and in genitive (oxna-paeþ ModE oxens' path) and partitive genitive constructions (ic bohte fif getymu oxena, ic bohte an getyme oxena, ModE I bought five teams of oxen, I bought one team of oxen) and those uses appear not only in texts dealing with quotidien farming and mercantile situations but notably in passages from the Bible, which would frequently have been heard by audiences from all social and economic classes.

The plural appears as oxen and is very well-attested in Middle English in a wide range of texts. It appears in various spellings, including oksen, exen, oxon, oxen, oxsen, oxsin, ocsen (see the MED). Its appearance in proverbial contexts (Moche uolk of religion zetteþ þe zuolȝ be-uore the oksen. Many people of religion set the plow before the oxen) and laws is very strong evidence that it was widely used.

P.S. I have a copy of the Old English corpus and found these attestations by searching it. (I studied Old English and Middle English as an undergraduate and graduate student, back before the days of personal computers, but they haven't changed much in the interim.)

P.P.S. I stumbled upon a book, Working Oxen by Martin Watts. 1999. "... a survey of their use in Britain, their impact upon the countryside, and the relics that can still be found: yokes, bows, shoes, housing and place-names. Martin Watts is curator of the Ryedale Folk Museum in North Yorkshire." [Google Books description] and "Oxen were one of the most important sources of motive power in the British countryside... The working ox has left a lasting mark on the language, landscape and culture... Historians rarely mention or study them. It is as if a history of twentieth century were to ignore the impact of the tractor and the lorry. The purpose of this book is to redress that balance." [from the blurb on Amazon].

Meri, in which context would you use this info? ________________________________________

"The correct answer is option 2) i.e. Oxen. Explanation 'Ox' is a domestic bovine (having qualities characteristic of cows) mammal. The plural form of 'Ox' is 'Oxen' because some nouns adopt foreign rulings. The Foreign Plural nouns have irregular plural forms. They often make their plurals according to the rules of the language they were taken from (e.g. Latin or Greek or German). Sometimes there is more than one plural form possible or these forms have different meanings. For example:   Singular Plural analysis analyses appendix appendixesappendices axis axes basis bases ox oxen child children datum data phenomenon phenomena   Hence, the correct plural form of the given word is 'Oxen'. A few words take -en instead of -s or -es to become plural: We may have heard that English is a Germanic language. The -en ending on plurals is something we get from the German roots. In Old English, some nouns were made plural with -s and -es as they are today, but many nouns took -en to become plural. By the 14th century, the s-form became dominant everywhere, but people didn't let go of the en-form completely; as late as the 16th century the plural of the eye was eyen and the plural of hose was hosen. Today only a few en-forms survive; the most common are oxen and children."

Final Answer: The plural form of 'ox' is 'oxen,' which follows an irregular noun pattern in English. Therefore, the correct choice is option A. Understanding this helps with other irregular nouns as well. ; Explanation: In English, the plural form of the word 'ox' is 'oxen.' This follows an irregular pattern of English nouns that do not simply add 's' or 'es' to form the plural. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how this works: Understanding the Base Word: The word 'ox' refers to a powerful domesticated animal commonly used for farming, pulling carts, or in various agricultural tasks. Identifying the Plural Form: While many nouns become plural by adding 's' (like 'cat' to 'cats') or 'es' (like 'box' to 'boxes'), 'ox' changes to 'oxen.' Irregular Noun Examples: The English language has several other irregular plural forms, such as 'man' to 'men,' 'woman' to 'women,' and 'child' to 'children.' Understanding these patterns can help when learning other irregular nouns. Thus, if you see a question about the plural form of 'ox', the correct answer is option A: 'oxen.' ; Examples & Evidence: Similar examples include 'foot' to 'feet' and 'tooth' to 'teeth,' which also change forms instead of simply adding an 's.' This information about the plural form of 'ox' and other similar nouns can be confirmed through standard English grammar resources.

Because like many words in English, they have very different origins (etymology) Box comes from Greek. Ox comes from Old English, and possibly dates back to Sanskrit. English vocabulary comes from many different sources, often follows the rules based on those sources, and doesn't have to have any kind of predictable rules.