buxom

WOTD – 20 August 2010    

English

Etymology

From Middle English buxum, buhsum (“bendsome, flexible, pliant, obedient”), from Old English *būhsum (“bendsome, pliant”), a derivative of Old English būgan (“to bend, bow”), equivalent to bow +‎ -some. Cognate with Dutch buigzaam (“flexible, pliant”), German biegsam (“flexible, pliant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbʌksəm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

buxom (comparative buxomer or more buxom, superlative buxomest or most buxom)

1. (of a woman) Having a full, voluptuous figure, especially possessing large breasts.
   • 2003, "Milestones," Time, 23 Jul.,

     DIED. Robert Brooks, 69, canny businessman who, as chairman of Hooters, turned the bar-restaurant chain, famed for buxom waitresses in orange hot pants, into an international success.

2. (dated, of a woman) Healthy, lively.
   • 1896, Thomas Hardy, A Group of Noble Dames, "Dame the Eighth: The Lady Penelope,"

     So heated and impassioned, indeed, would they become, that the lady hardly felt herself safe in their company at such times, notwithstanding that she was a brave and buxom damsel, not easily put out, and with a daring spirit of humour in her composition.

3. (archaic) Cheerful, lively, happy.
   • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe, ch. 41,

     The Outlaw accordingly led the way, followed by the buxom Monarch, more happy, probably, in this chance meeting with Robin Hood and his foresters, than he would have been in again assuming his royal state.

Synonyms

• (having a full, voluptuous figure): busty, curvaceous, curvy, shapely, round

Translations

Having a full, voluptuous figure

• Czech: baculatý (cs)
• Dutch: rondborstig (nl)
• French: bien en chair (fr), aux formes généreuses (fr)
• German: drall (de)
• Greek: όμορφοσ (el) (ómorphos), ζωηρόσ (el) (zoirós), ελκυστικόσ (el) (elkystikós)
• Hebrew: שמן (he)
• Hungarian: telt (hu)
• Indonesian: montok (id)
• Italian: formosa (it) f, prosperosa (it) f

• Manx: roauyr (gv)
• Norwegian: yppig (no)
• Romanian: durdliu (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: lìonta (gd) n, thiugh (gd) f, mhaiseach (gd) f
• Spanish: pechugona (es) f, maciza (es) f
• Swedish: frodig (sv)
• Turkish: dolgun (tr)

References

• “buxom” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.