βοῦς

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /bûːs/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈβus/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈvus/^[1]

Forms

βοῦς (boûs) m or f (genitive βοός); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *gʷous, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cattle”), the old inherited word for cattle, kept almost unchanged in many languages.^[1][2] Mycenaean has Mycenaean Greek qo-o, perhaps /gʷōns/, and qo-we.^[3][4][1] The Doric and Homeric accusative βῶν (bôn) matches Sanskrit गाम् (gā́m) and the genitive plural βοῶν (boôn) Sanskrit गवाम् (gávām).^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit गौ (gaú, “cow”), Latin bōs (“ox”) (a word taken from Osco-Umbrian), Old Armenian կով (kov, “cow”), Old Irish bó (“cow”), Old High German chuo (“cow”), Old English cū (“cow”), Latvian gùovs (“cow”) and Old Church Slavonic говѧдо (govędo, “cattle”).^[2][1]

Ancient grammarians derived it from a verb “to feed” or from βοάω (boáō, “to shout”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it from the first book of the Iliad (1.154) for oxen, bulls and cows, and the Odyssey opens with the cattle of the Sun (1.8).^[6][7] In the Iliad it also means a shield of ox-hide (7.238).^[8]

Semantic evolution

Cattle were the measure of wealth: in Homer they are gifts, prizes and booty, and an ox stands for something large, strong or valuable.^[7] The proverb “an ox stands on my tongue” (Theognis, Aeschylus' Agamemnon) was said by someone who could not speak freely.^[7][8] Herodotus describes the sacred cattle of Egypt, and Aristotle uses it for the Apis bull.^[7] Aristotle and Strabo also give the name to fishes.^[8]

It is common in compounds, such as βουκόλος (boukólos) “herdsman”, βούτυρον (boútūron) “butter” and ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē) “hecatomb”.^[3][1] The diminutive βοΐδιον (boḯdion) is found in Aristophanes.^[3]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for cattle and for an ox-hide shield.^[9][8]
• 6th century BC – Theognis has the proverb of the ox on the tongue.^[7][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus describes the sacred cattle of Egypt.^[7][4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the Apis bull and for a fish.^[7][8][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ox, bull, bullock; a draught ox.^[8][7]
2. A cow, heifer.^[7]
3. (plural) Cattle.^[7]
4. A shield of ox-hide.^[8][7]
5. A kind of fish.^[8]

Word family

• βουδόρος (boudóros)
• βουθυσία (bouthusía)
• βουθυτέω (bouthutéō)
• βούθυτος (boúthutos)
• βουκολέω (boukoléō)
• βουκόλιον (boukólion)
• βουκόλος (boukólos)
• βούνομος (boúnomos)
• βούτης (boútēs)
• βουφορβέω (bouphorbéō)
• βουφόρβια (bouphórbia)
• βουφορβός (bouphorbós)
• βοῶπις (boôpis)
• ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē)

Related words

• Latin bōs
• English cow

Usage notes

“An ox on the tongue” was said of someone kept silent by a weighty reason; the paroemiographers wrongly explained it as bribery with coins stamped with an ox.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
3. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son