bovine

English

WOTD – 9 May 2008

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin bovīnus (“relating to cattle”), from Latin bōs (“ox”). Cognate to beef.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbəʊ.vaɪn/
• (US) enPR: bōʹvīn', bōʹvēn', bōʹvĭn; IPA^(key): /ˈboʊˌvaɪn/, /ˈboʊˌvin/, /ˈboʊ.vɪn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (UK) -əʊvaɪn, (US) -oʊvaɪn

Adjective

bovine (comparative more bovine, superlative most bovine)

1. (not comparable) Of or pertaining to cattle.

   Synonyms: neatish, (archaic) vaccine

2. (not comparable) Belonging to the family, subfamily, tribe, or genera including cows, buffalo, and bison.
3. (figurative) Sluggish, dull, slow-witted.
   • 1988 October 10, Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, London: William Heinemann, page 69:

     They had been selected and arranged with a dull, bovine indifference to any meaning that any of them might have.

   • 2018 August 16, Marina Hyde, “Sorry to break it to you, far-righters: James Bond is not on your team”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     For reasons which are really a matter for a trainee psychoanalyst, who plays James Bond is a big thing for Spencer. To this end, he has unleashed a series of thoughts so bovine that I’ll just give you one for a little flavour.

   • 2025 February 5, “The Guardian view on Trump’s foreign policy: an alarming new order takes shape”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     The inevitable consequence of handling complex international issues with cruel and bovine simplicity is to spread fear, uncertainty and instability.

Derived terms

• acute bovine pulmonary emphysema
• antibovine
• bibovine
• bovine acetonaemia, bovine acetonemia
• bovine achondroplasia
• bovine adenovirus type 3 proteinase
• bovine adenovirus type 7 proteinase
• Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1
• Bovine alphaherpesvirus 2
• Bovine alphaherpesvirus 5
• bovine antitoxin
• Bovine atadenovirus D
• bovine babesiosis
• bovine bingo
• bovine borreliosis
• bovine brucellosis
• bovine cancer eye
• bovine cartilage
• bovine colloid
• bovine colostrum
• bovine congenital ataxia
• Bovine coronavirus
• Bovine cyclovirus
• bovine diarrhea virus, bovine diarrhoea virus
• bovine encephalitis, bovine encephalomyelitis
• bovine enterovirus (Enterovirus E)
• bovine ephemeral fever
• bovine epizootic fever
• bovine face
• bovine farcy
• Bovine fever ephemerovirus
• Bovine foamy virus
• bovine foot rot
• Bovine gammaherpesvirus 4
• Bovine gammaherpesvirus 6
• bovine genital campylobacteriosis
• bovine genital vibriosis
• bovine genome
• bovine growth hormone
• bovine haemoglobinuria, bovine hemoglobinuria
• bovine heart
• bovine herpes mammillitis
• bovine herpes virus 1, Bovine herpesvirus 1
• bovine herpes virus 5, Bovine herpesvirus 5
• Bovine immunodeficiency virus
• bovine immunoglobulin
• bovine immunoglobulin concentrate
• bovine infectious petechial fever
• bovine ketosis
• bovine lentivirus
• bovine leprosy
• bovine leptospirosis
• bovine leukaemia, bovine leukemia
• Bovine leukemia virus
• bovine leukosis
• bovinely
• bovine lymphomatosis
• bovine malignant catarrh
• bovine malignant catarrhal fever
• bovine malignant lymphoma
• Bovine mastadenovirus A
• Bovine mastadenovirus B
• Bovine mastadenovirus C
• bovine mastitis
• bovine mitochondrial endonuclease
• bovine myelin
• bovineness
• bovine nocardiosis
• bovine papillomatosis
• bovine papilloma virus, bovine papillomavirus
• bovine papular stomatitis
• Bovine papular stomatitis virus
• Bovine parainfluenza virus 3
• Bovine parvovirus
• bovine petechial fever
• bovine porphyria
• bovine progressive degenerative myeloencephalopathy
• Bovine respiratory syncytial virus
• Bovine rhinitis A virus
• Bovine rhinitis B virus
• bovine rhinotracheitis vaccine
• bovine rhinovirus
• bovine scatology
• bovine serum albumin
• bovine somatotrophin
• bovine spongiform encephalitis
• bovine spongiform encephalopathy
• bovine sporadic encephalomyelitis
• bovine theileriasis
• Bovine torovirus
• bovine trichomoniasis
• bovine trypanosomiasis
• bovine tuberculosis
• bovine ulcerative mammillitis
• bovine vaccinia mammillitis
• bovine viral diarrhea, bovine viral diarrhoea, bovine virus diarrhea, bovine virus diarrhoea
• Bovine viral diarrhea virus 1, Bovine viral diarrhea virus 2
• bovinity
• bovinized
• contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
• contagious bovine pyelonephritis
• enzootic bovine haematuria, enzootic bovine hematuria
• epidemic bovine abortion
• epizootic bovine abortion
• fetal bovine serum, foetal bovine serum
• infectious bovine keratitis
• infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis
• infectious bovine rhinotracheitis
• nonbovine
• ovibovine
• sporadic bovine encephalomyelitis
• sporadic bovine leukosis

Related terms

• beef
• Bos
• Boselaphini
• Boselaphus
• bovate
• bovicide
• boviculture
• bovid
• Bovidae
• boviform
• Bovinae
• Bovini
• Bovinus spiritualis (hodag)
• Bovril

Translations

of, relating to or resembling cattle

• Belarusian: каравя́чы (karavjáčy), каро́він (karóvin) (of cows), бычы́ны (byčýny)
• Bulgarian: во́лски (vólski)
• Catalan: boví (ca)
• Cornish: bewin, lonnek
• Czech: hovězí (cs)
• Dutch: runds (nl)
• Esperanto: bova
• Finnish: nautamainen (fi), nauta- (fi)
• French: bovin (fr)
• German: Rinder- (de)
• Hindi: गोजातीय (gojātīya), पशुवत (paśuvat), गोरूप (hi) (gorūp)
• Ingrian: lehmäin
• Italian: bovino (it)
• Latin: bovīnus (la)
• Malay: lembu (ms), kelembuan, bovin
• Marathi: गोजातीय (gojātīy), गोकुलीय (gokulīy)
• Polish: bydlęcy (pl)
• Portuguese: bovino (pt)
• Romanian: vițel (ro)
• Russian: коро́вий (ru) (koróvij) (of cows), бы́чий (ru) (býčij) (of bulls), быча́чий (ru) (byčáčij)
• Serbo-Croatian: goveđi (sh)
• Slovak: hovädzí
• Slovene: goveji
• Spanish: bovino (es), vacuno (es)
• Ukrainian: коро́в'ячий (koróvʺjačyj) (of cows), бича́чий (uk) (byčáčyj) (of bulls)
• Welsh: buchol (cy)

sluggish, dull, slow-witted

• Bulgarian: тъп (bg) (tǎp), му́ден (bg) (múden)
• Finnish: nautamainen
• Hindi: मन्दबुद्धि (hi) (mandabuddhi)
• Polish: gamoniowaty
• Russian: тупо́й (ru) (tupój) (slow-witted)

Noun

bovine (plural bovines)

wild bovines

domestic bovines

1. An animal of the family, subfamily, tribe, or genera including cattle, buffaloes and bison.

Translations

animal like cattle, buffalo, bison

• Catalan: boví (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 牛 (zh) (niú)

• Czech: tur (cs) m
• Dutch: rund (nl)
• Finnish: nauta (fi) (subfamily, tribe, genus); nautaeläin (fi) (family)
• French: bovin (fr) m
• Hindi: गोरू (hi) m (gorū)
• Italian: bovino (it) m
• Mongolian: үхэр (mn) (üxer)
• Ottoman Turkish: صیغیر (sığır)
• Romanian: bovină (ro) f
• Spanish: bovino (es) m
• Tok Pisin: bulmakau
• Welsh: buchol (cy) m

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔ.vin/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Adjective

bovine

1. feminine singular of bovin

Italian

Adjective

bovine

1. feminine plural of bovino

Anagrams

• bevoni

Latin

Adjective

bovīne

1. vocative masculine singular of bovīnus