bue

Forms

bue m (plural buoi, derogatory (figurative only) buaccio (“dimwit, fool”), diminutive-derogatory (figurative only) buacciolo (“dimwit, fool”))^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin bōs (“ox, cow”), continued in its accusative case.^[2][3][4][1] The Vulgar Latin form, without the /v/, was *boem.^[2][1] The Tuscan form comes from a diphthongised Old Italian buoe, the singular matching the plural Old Italian buoi, later reduced, as in mio.^[2][3][5][6] The fuller bove keeps the consonant;^[2][7] Prati holds that it is not an old popular form, while DELI cites Rohlfs for its popular use.^[2][7]

The word is panromance: 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 for cattle of either sex, Proto-Italic *gʷōs, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₃us.^[9][3] Its cognates include Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), Old High German kuo (“cow”), the English word cow, Latvian govs and Irish bó.^[3][5] The initial /b/ in place of the expected Latin *vōs is an Osco-Umbrian outcome (compare the accusative Umbrian bum), taken into Latin from the rural speech of the countryside around Rome.^[3][5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Inventario d'Orlando of 1221, with the plural li buoi for castrated adult males of domestic cattle.^[2][4] The TLIO's first attestation is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian had many forms of the word, among them bu, bo, bove and buoe;^[10][2] bo is in Sacchetti and bove in the 14th-century vernacular Bible.^[10][2] Besides the working and plough animal, Old Italian used the word for its meat and hide, for Jupiter disguised as a bull, and for the constellation of Taurus.^[10]

The figurative sense “dull, ignorant man” is in Aretino (1542), and the derivatives buaggine and buaccio share it;^[2][11][7] Thomas Aquinas was called a bue muto by his fellow students.^[2][11][7] “Beef” as meat is recorded before 1595, in Tasso.^[2] Zoology extends the name to other cattle: bue muschiato, the musk ox (1930), and bue marino, the dugong.^[2][12]

The ox is common in proverbs: mettere il carro davanti ai buoi (to do things in the wrong order), chiudere la stalla quando i buoi sono scappati (to act too late) and moglie e buoi dei paesi tuoi (marry close to home).^[13][12]

Timeline

• 1221 – Buoi is recorded in the Inventario d'Orlando.^[2][4]
• 14th century – The form bu appears in Ser Luporo da Lucca, and bove in the vernacular Bible.^[2]
• Before 1400 – Sacchetti uses bo.^[2]
• 1542 – Aretino uses bue for a dull, ignorant man.^[2]
• Before 1595 – Tasso uses bue for beef.^[2]
• 1930 – Bue muschiato “musk ox” appears in the Enciclopedia italiana.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. ox: the castrated adult male of domestic cattle, used for draught and for meat: Una coppia di buoi tirava l'aratro.^[4][14][15]
2. (zoology) The species Bos taurus and related bovines: bue muschiato (musk ox), bue delle giungle (gaur), bue marino (dugong).^[14][12][11]
3. beef, the meat of the ox: Per cena c'era bollito di bue.^[4][15][12]
4. (figurative) A dull, ignorant person; a blockhead: pezzo di bue!^[4][13][15]

Word family

• buaccio
• buacciolo
• buaggine
• buessa
• imbuire

Related words

• bove
• Latin bōs
• French bœuf

Usage notes

The plural is buoi.^[1][14] Bove is a literary or regional variant.^[15][12] Occhio di bue is a round window or a spotlight, and uova all'occhio di bue are fried eggs with unbroken yolks;^[12][16] parco buoi is stock-market slang for small investors without expertise.^[12][16]

DEI also lists a bue marino, a popular name of a Mediterranean ray, and another for the harbour seal.^[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 j k l m n o p q r s Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 70
7. ^ a b c d Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 187
8. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
9. ^ 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 d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 626