Which one is the most general: "ox", "bull", "bison" or "buffalo"?
I've looked it up in Wikipedia, but it seems that the authors of articles in Wikipedia are trying to avoid using general terms and would rather use special scientific terms derived from Latin, which makes definitions very accurate and that's, of course, the way how any article in encyclopedia should be. But here I am more concerned about general terms and their usage, not precise definitions. So, which one of those four words seems more inclusive to you? (I know "cattle" would probably "swallow" them all :) )
Answer
Bison, ox, and buffalo are all specific, different species. Confusingly, bison are sometimes called buffalo, although my impression is that this is becoming less common.
Bulls are adult males, most commonly cattle, though potentially from any of these species (and even some very different species---sea lion males, for instance, are also called bulls). Apparently ox is also used to refer to a castrated male from any of these species (again, mostly commonly cattle).
If you want a term that includes all of these, you probably want "bovine".
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