bucranium

English

Etymology

From Latin būcrānium, from Ancient Greek βουκράνιον (boukránion).

Noun

bucranium (plural bucraniums or bucrania)

1. The head of an ox.
   • 1986, Nanno Marinatos, Minoan Sacrificial Ritual:

     On the second side of the gem, we see the victim, a running goat, and on the third side the symbol of sacrifice, the bucranium.

   • 2000, Béatrix Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt:

     It was also in relation to the funerary world that bucrania were placed at the bottoms of the pits.