βοῦς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βῶς (bôs) — Doric

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *gʷous (compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀦𐀃 (qo-o)), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws. Cognates include Old English cū (English cow), Irish bó, Latin bōs, and Sanskrit गो (gó).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bûːs/ → /βus/ → /vus/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bûːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /bus/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /βus/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /vus/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /vus/

Noun

βοῦς • (boûs) m or f (genitive βοός); third declension

1. cow, ox, cattle
2. shield
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 7.238–239:

     οἶδ’ ἐπὶ δεξιά, οἶδ’ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ νωμῆσαι βῶν
     ἀζαλέην, τό μοι ἔστι ταλαύρινον πολεμίζειν·

     oîd’ epì dexiá, oîd’ ep’ aristerà nōmêsai bôn
     azaléēn, tó moi ésti talaúrinon polemízein;

     I know on the right, and I know on the left how to wield my dried
     shield, which to me seems sturdy in fighting:

Usage notes

• The sense 'shield' is explained in a scholium to Iliad 7.238 as follows:

  c. 900 CE – 1000, Venetus A scholium at Iliad 7.238 :

  βοῦν· Δωρικῶς τὴν ἀσπίδα, ὅτι ἐκ βοείων ἐστι δερμάτων συνεκδοχικῶς τὸ ὅπλον

  boûn; Dōrikôs tḕn aspída, hóti ek boeíōn esti dermátōn sunekdokhikôs tò hóplon

  boûn: 'shield' (Doric), because the shield is made from layered bovine skins

Inflection

Irregular declension of ὁ, ἡ βοῦς; τοῦ, τῆς βοός (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ βοῦς ho, hē boûs	τὼ βόε tṑ bóe	οἱ, αἱ βόες hoi, hai bóes
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς βοός toû, tês boós	τοῖν βοοῖν toîn booîn	τῶν βοῶν tôn boôn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ βοΐ tôi, têi boḯ	τοῖν βοοῖν toîn booîn	τοῖς, ταῖς βουσί / βουσίν toîs, taîs bousí(n)
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν βοῦν tòn, tḕn boûn	τὼ βόε tṑ bóe	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς βοῦς toùs, tā̀s boûs
Vocative	βοῦ boû	βόε bóe	βόες bóes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Irregular declension of βοῦς; βοός (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	βοῦς boûs	βόε bóe	βόες bóes
Genitive	βοός boós	βοοῖν booîn	βοῶν boôn
Dative	βοΐ boḯ	βοοῖν booîn	βουσί / βουσίν / βόεσσι / βόεσσιν bousí(n) / bóessi(n)
Accusative	βοῦν / βῶν boûn / bôn	βόε bóe	βόας / βοῦς bóas / boûs
Vocative	βοῦ boû	βόε bóe	βόες bóes
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Synonyms

(shield): αἰγίς (aigís), ἀσπίδιον (aspídion), ἀσπίς (aspís), βοάγριον (boágrion), κρίγδανον (krígdanon), πέλτη (péltē), ῥῑνός (rhīnós), σάκος (sákos), σκοῦτα (skoûta)

Hyponyms

• δᾰμᾰ́λη (damálē, “young cow, heifer”), δᾰμᾰ́λης (damálēs, “young steer”), δᾰ́μᾰλις (dámalis, “young cow, heifer”), μόσχος (móskhos, “young bull or cow”), πόρτις (pórtis), στεῖρα (steîra, “cow that has not produced young”), ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”)

Derived terms

• βοάνθεμον (boánthemon)
• βόϊνος (bóïnos)
• βούγλωσσον (boúglōsson)
• βούγλωσσος (boúglōssos)
• βουδόρος (boudóros)
• βουθυσία (bouthusía)
• βουθυτέω (bouthutéō)
• βούθυτος (boúthutos)
• Βουκέφαλος (Bouképhalos)
• βουκολέω (boukoléō)
• βουκολία (boukolía)
• βουκόλιον (boukólion)
• βουκόλος (boukólos)
• βούκολος (boúkolos)
• βουκόρῡζᾰ (boukórūza)
• βουνομέω (bounoméō)
• βούνομος (boúnomos)
• βουστροφηδόν (boustrophēdón)
• βούσῡκον (boúsūkon)
• βούτης (boútēs)
• βούτρᾰγος (boútragos)
• βούτῡρον (boútūron)
• βούτῡρος (boútūros)
• βούφθαλμον (boúphthalmon)
• βούφονος (boúphonos)
• βουφορβέω (bouphorbéō)
• βουφόρβια (bouphórbia)
• βουφορβός (bouphorbós)
• βοῶπις (boôpis)
• ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē)
• ἐπιβουκόλος (epiboukólos)
• πρέσβῠς (présbus)

 

Descendants

• Greek: βόδι (vódi), βόιδι n (vóidi)
• Tsakonian: βου (vou)
• ⇒ Translingual: Bucephala

Further reading

• “βοῦς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “βοῦς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “βοῦς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• βοῦς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• βοῦς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• βοῦς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “βοῦς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1016 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bull idem, page 103.
  • cow idem, page 180.
  • ox idem, page 587.
• Mycenaean Greek Word List