The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
AUROCHS
Definition of AUROCHS
noun
An extinct European mammal, Bos primigenius, the ancestor of domestic cattle.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
AUROCHS carries 4 further meanings.
noun
A wild ox (Bos primigenius) of Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia that became extinct in the 17th century and is believed to be the ancestor of domestic cattle.
noun
A species of wild ox or buffalo, the bonasos of Aristotle, bison of Pliny, the European bison, Bos or Bison bonasus of modern naturalists.
noun
The European bison (Bison bonasus, or Bison Europæus), once widely distributed, but now nearly extinct, except where protected in the Lithuanian forests, and perhaps in the Caucasus. It is distinct from the Urus of Cæsar, with which it has often been confused.
noun
The European bison (Bison bonasus, or Europæus).
Where it comes from
Borrowed from German Aurochs, an early variant of Auerochse, from Middle High German ūrochse (“aurochs”), from Old High German ūrohso (“aurochs”), a compound consisting of ūro (“aurochs”) (from Proto-Germanic *ūraz, *ūrô (“aurochs”)) + ohso (“ox”). Akin to Old English ūr (“aurochs”), Old Norse úrr (“aurochs”), Middle Low German ūrosse (“aurochs”), Old English oxa (“ox”). More at ox.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Proto-Germanic
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
6th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
4.7%
of traced words share this origin (3,919)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, AUROCHS · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Middle Low German, Old English, Old Norse.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
AUROCHS in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 69 boards so far. 168 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 39, 28 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 168, 4 November 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 39, 28 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
AUROCHS starts with A and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read ACHORSU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Also seen on Day 39
Could you have found AUROCHS?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 39 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER