boa

Forms

boa f (genitive boae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain: the OLD marks it doubtful, and Köbler calls it of unknown origin, probably a loanword.^[2][3] Lewis and Short connect it with bōs (“ox, cow”).^[4] Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Italic *gʷouā, with ⟨b-⟩ from a Sabellic intermediary, and further from Proto-Indo-European *gʷówyeh₂, a derivative of *gʷówyos (“pertaining to cows”), explaining the meaning by the folk belief that snakes drink cows' milk; it compares Serbo-Croatian guja (“snake”) as an exact cognate.^[1] An older spelling ⟨bova⟩ is found in manuscripts of Pliny, in Festus and in Varro.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius has it for a disease, in a line wishing that no swelling, pimples or boa may harm.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder uses it for a large Italian snake, reporting that one killed on the Vatican hill under Claudius held a whole child in its belly; he also uses it for a disease with red pustules, which cow dung was said to cure, giving it its name.^[4][2] According to Festus (in Paul's epitome) it was a water snake, named because it sucked milk from cows, and the swelling of the legs from walking was also called bova;^[4][5] Jerome says the snakes are so called because they can swallow oxen.^[4][5] Varro used bova for a wine vessel shaped like the snake.^[5]

English borrowed it in the late 14th century for a large snake; from the 1620s it also named the South American constrictor.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it for a disease.^[2][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses bova for a wine vessel.^[5][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the large snake and the disease.^[4][2][3]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English for a large snake.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large kind of snake, said to suck the milk of cows.^[2][4][5]
2. A skin disease with red pimples; measles or smallpox, according to Lewis and Short.^[2][4]
3. A swelling of the veins of the legs.^[4][5]
4. In the form bova, a wine vessel shaped like the snake.^[5]

Related words

• English boa

Usage notes

The island Boa off the coast of Dalmatia, a place of exile in Ammianus, is a separate name.^[5][3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com