bos

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈboːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbɔs]^[1]

Forms

bōs m or f (genitive bovis); irregular, third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Italic *gʷōs, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”).^[2][1] The regular Latin outcome would be *vōs or *ūs, so the initial ⟨b⟩ is generally thought to come from a Sabellic dialect, in which *gʷ became /b/, as in Umbrian bum (“ox”).^[2][1][3] Cognate with Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs, “ox”), Sanskrit गो (gó, “cow”) and Old English cū (English cow).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Naevius.^[2][5] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a bovine animal, an ox, bull or cow, and in the plural cattle.^[4][2] Caesar uses it of the reindeer, which he describes wrongly, and bōs Lūca “Lucanian ox” was the old name for the elephant.^[4] It also named a fish, perhaps the ox-ray.^[4] The inflection was irregular, with forms such as bovum, bovērum, bōbus and būbus.^[2][4] The proverb bovī clītellās impōnere “to put a pack-saddle on an ox” meant to give someone a task unsuited to him.^[6]

In medieval British Latin it was especially the plough ox.^[7] Through Old French buef it gave English beef about 1300, and Late Latin bovīnus gave English bovine.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus asks whether there are no oxen to look after in the country.^[4][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar describes the reindeer as an ox.^[4][5]
• c. 1300 – English beef is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ox, bull or cow, (plural) cattle.^[4][2]
2. An animal thought to resemble an ox, bōs Lūca, an elephant.^[4]
3. A fish, perhaps the ox-ray.^[4]

Word family

• boārius
• bovātim
• bovicīdium
• bovīle
• bovīlis
• bovīllus
• bovīnor
• bovīnus
• būbulus
• būcaeda
• būcina
• būculus

Related words

• English beef
• English bovine

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press