buchu

See also: bùchū and buch'u

English

Alternative forms

• boegoe

Etymology

Borrowed from Nama buku.

Noun

buchu (countable and uncountable, plural buchus)

1. A South African shrub in the genus Agathosma.
   • 1978, André Brink, Rumours of Rain, Vintage 2000, p. 41:

     Inside us, like chromosomes, lay the memories of […] guinea-fowl clicking in the early morning grass or the delicate tracks of the sandpiper, the smell of buchu and veld fires […]

2. (South Africa) Medicinal leaves from the shrub that are often used in brandy; this is an old Dutch medicine.
   • 1999, JM Coetzee, Disgrace, Vintage 2000, p. 71:

     Like Lucy, they have potatoes and onions to sell, but also bottled jams, preserves, dried fruit, packets of buchu tea, honeybush tea, herbs.

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Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbuxu]

Verb

buchu

1. third-person plural passive of byś