Editing Moose (section)

== Taxonomy ==

=== Etymology ===

''Alces alces'' is called a "moose" in [[North American English]], but an "elk" in [[British English]].<ref name="OED">{{cite web|year=1989|orig-date=1891|title=elk, ''n''. 1|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60507|access-date=January 15, 2021|work=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|edition=2nd|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309225208/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60507|url-status=live}}</ref> The word "elk" in North American English refers to a completely different species of deer, ''Cervus canadensis'', also called the [[wapiti]] (from [[Algonquian languages|Algonquin]]). A mature male moose is called a bull, a mature female a cow, and an immature moose of either sex a calf.

In [[Classical Antiquity]], the animal was known as {{Lang|grc|ἄλκη|}} ({{Transliteration|grc|álkē}})<ref>{{LSJ|a)/lkh2|ἄλκη|ref}}.</ref> in [[Greek language|Greek]] and {{Lang|la|alces}}<ref>{{L&S|alces|ref}}</ref> in [[Latin]], words probably borrowed from a [[Germanic language]] or another language of northern Europe.<ref name="OED" /> By the 8th century, during the [[Early Middle Ages]], the species was known as {{Langx|ang|elch, elh, eolh}}, derived from the [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]]: ''*elho-'', ''*elhon-'' and possibly connected with the {{Langx|non|elgr}}.<ref name="OED" /> Later, the species became known in [[Middle English]] as {{lang|enm|elk}}, {{lang|enm|elcke}}, or {{lang|enm|elke}}, appearing in the Latinized form ''alke'', with the spelling ''alce'' borrowed directly from {{Langx|la|alces|links=no}}.<ref name="OED" /><ref name="OED2">{{cite web|year=2012|title=alce, ''n.''|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/4677|access-date=January 15, 2021|work=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|edition=3rd|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309225920/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/4677|url-status=live}}</ref>

The word "elk" remained in usage because of English-speakers' familiarity with the species in [[Continental Europe]]; however, without any living animals around to serve as a reference, the meaning became rather vague, and by the 17th century "elk" had a meaning similar to "large deer".<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Mallory|first1=J. P.|title=The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World|last2=Adams|first2=D. Q.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|pages=133–134}}</ref> Dictionaries of the 18th century simply described "elk" as a deer that was "as large as a horse".<ref>Bailey, Nathan (1731). ''An Universal Etymological English Dictionary'' Royal Exchange. Page EL--EM.</ref>

The word "moose" had first entered English by 1606<ref>{{OED|moose}}</ref> and is borrowed from the [[Algonquian languages]] (compare the [[Narragansett language|Narragansett]] {{lang|xnt|moos}} and [[Eastern Abenaki language|Eastern Abenaki]] {{lang|aaq|mos}}; according to early sources, these were likely derived from ''moosu'', meaning {{gloss|he strips off}}),<ref>{{OED|moose|access-date=February 16, 2011}}</ref> and possibly involved forms from multiple languages mutually reinforcing one another. The [[Proto-Algonquian language|Proto-Algonquian]] form was ''*mo·swa''.<ref>{{dictionary.com|moose|access-date=October 25, 2011}}</ref>