βοῦς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *gʷōus. Cognates include Sanskrit गो (go), Latin bos, and Old English cū (English cow).

Pronunciation

• (5th BC Attic): IPA: /bó͜os/

• (1st BC Egyptian): IPA: /buːs/

• (4th AD Koine): IPA: /βus/

• (10th AD Byzantine): IPA: /vus/

• (15th AD Constantinopolitan): IPA: /vus/

Noun

βοῦς (genitive βοός) m & f, third declension; (bous)

1. cow, ox, cattle
2. shield - ὃτι ἐκ βοείων ἐστι δερμάτων συνεκδοχικῶς τό ὃπλον. Because the weapon is made of successive bovine skins.

Inflection

Inflection

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ/ἡ βοῦς	τὼ βόε	οἱ/αἱ βόες
Genitive	τοῦ/τῆς βοός	τοῖν βοοῖν	τῶν βοῶν
Dative	τῷ/τῇ βοΐ	τοῖν βοοῖν	τοῖς/ταῖς βουσί(ν)
Accusative	τὸν/τὴν βοῦν	τὼ βόε	τοὺς/τὰς βοῦς
Vocative	βοῦ	βόε	βόες

Derived terms

• βουκόλος (boukolos)
• βουστροφηδόν (boustrophēdon)
• βούτυρον (boutūron)
• βούτυρος (boutūros)

Descendants

• English: butter, bucolic, hecatomb, boustrophedon, bulimia nervosa
• Translingual: Bucephala

References

• LSJ
• BDAG
• Strong’s concordance number: G1016