bove

Forms

bove m (plural bovi, diminutive bovétto, augmentative bovóne, pejorative bovàccio)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bovem (“ox, cow”), the accusative of the Latin word, and the doublet of bue.^[2][1][3] DELI and Nocentini treat the two forms together: the Latin accusative bŏvem lost its /v/ and became *bŏe, which gave a diphthongized ⟨*buòe⟩ (the singular matching the plural buoi) and then Tuscan ⟨bue⟩.^[4][3] Devoto explains this form as the one in which the /v/ between vowels held out, and so kept the vowel from becoming a diphthong.^[5] The DEI and the GDLI, by contrast, take it to be probably a learned form, while DELI, following Rohlfs, notes that it was also popular.^[6][7][4]

The same Latin word is French bœuf, Occitan buou, Catalan bou, Spanish buey, Portuguese boi, Sardinian boe and Romanian bou.^[3][8] The Latin word is an old Indo-European word, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₃-u-s (“cow”), and is cognate with Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), Old High German kuo and Old Irish bó.^[9][3] Its initial /b/ is not the regular Latin outcome of PIE ⟨*gʷ-⟩, which would have given ⟨*vōs⟩; it is generally put down to a Sabellic dialect, with the Umbrian accusative bum, perhaps taken over to keep the word apart from Latin vōs (“you”).^[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI dates bove to the 14th century, in the Italian translation of the Bible, and GRADIT to about 1325.^[4][2] In the Bible translation it is the ox offered in sacrifice: Offeriva lo bove, quasi come quello che uccide l'uomo (“he offered the ox, as if he were one who kills a man”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

In older Italian bove stood beside bue and short forms such as bo;^[7][10] Leonardo writes of il bo salvatico, the wild ox, and Sannazaro compares himself to an ox chewing the cud in the shade (Qual bove all'ombra, che si posa e rumina).^[7][10] Today bove is a literary word, used above all of the ox as a working animal that pulls carts and ploughs, as in Carducci's line T'amo, o pio bove (“I love you, o pious ox”).^[2][11]

In zoology it names the animal of the genus Bos, and, capitalised, the genus itself, to which all domestic cattle belong.^[2][12] The phrases occhio di bove and pesce bove keep the form; for most other phrases bue is the usual word.^[2][11]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – First record of bove, according to GRADIT.^[2]
• 14th century – Bove appears in the Italian translation of the Bible.^[4][7]
• Before 1400 – The short form bo is used by Franco Sacchetti.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) An ox, especially one used to pull a cart or a plough; the same as bue: Il vecchio bove tirava l'aratro nel campo.^[2][11][1]
2. (zoology) A mammal of the genus Bos; capitalised, the genus itself, which includes all breeds of domestic cattle.^[2][12]
3. (heraldry) A conventional figure of a male bovine shown with its tail hanging down, unlike the bull, which carries it curled over its back.^[13]

Related words

• bue
• buoi
• bovino
• boario
• bovaro
• Latin bōs

Usage notes

Bove is the literary twin of the common bue; it survives in set phrases such as occhio di bove and pesce bove (another name for the fish pesce manzo).^[2][11] Its diminutive bovetto, augmentative bovone and pejorative bovaccio are little used.^[14][1]

Old Italian also had a feminine plural bove meaning the chains or fetters of prisoners, used by Giovanni Villani and in the Ottimo commento; it has a separate source, the Lombardic word for “ring”, and northern dialects have it as boga.^{[15][16][10][17]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 578
7. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 335
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 169
16. ^ Zaccaria, Enrico (1901), L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana: lessico con appendice e prospetto cronologico, Bologna: Treves
17. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 4, 634