# βοῦς
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* βῶς (bôs) — Doric

### Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *gʷous (compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀦𐀃 (qo-o)), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws. Cognates include Old English cū (English cow), Irish bó, Latin bōs, and Sanskrit गो (gó).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bûːs/ → /βus/ → /vus/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /bûːs/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /bus/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /βus/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /vus/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /vus/

### Noun

βοῦς • (boûs) m or f (genitive βοός); third declension
* cow, ox, cattle
* shield
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 7.238–239:οἶδ’ ἐπὶ δεξιά, οἶδ’ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ νωμῆσαι βῶν ἀζαλέην, τό μοι ἔστι ταλαύρινον πολεμίζειν·oîd’ epì dexiá, oîd’ ep’ aristerà nōmêsai bôn azaléēn, tó moi ésti talaúrinon polemízein;I know on the right, and I know on the left how to wield my dried shield, which to me seems sturdy in fighting:

#### Usage notes

* The sense 'shield' is explained in a scholium to Iliad 7.238 as follows:
    c. 900 CE – 1000, Venetus A scholium at Iliad 7.238 :βοῦν· Δωρικῶς τὴν ἀσπίδα, ὅτι ἐκ βοείων ἐστι δερμάτων συνεκδοχικῶς τὸ ὅπλονboûn; Dōrikôs tḕn aspída, hóti ek boeíōn esti dermátōn sunekdokhikôs tò hóplonboûn: 'shield' (Doric), because the shield is made from layered bovine skins

#### Synonyms

(shield): αἰγίς (aigís), ἀσπίδιον (aspídion), ἀσπίς (aspís), βοάγριον (boágrion), κρίγδανον (krígdanon), πέλτη (péltē), ῥῑνός (rhīnós), σάκος (sákos), σκοῦτα (skoûta)

#### Hyponyms

* δᾰμᾰ́λη (dămắlē, “young cow, heifer”), δᾰμᾰ́λης (dămắlēs, “young steer”), δᾰ́μᾰλις (dắmălis, “young cow, heifer”), μόσχος (móskhos, “young bull or cow”), πόρτις (pórtis), στεῖρα (steîra, “cow that has not produced young”), ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”)

#### Derived terms

* βοάνθεμον (boánthemon)
* βόϊνος (bóïnos)
* βούγλωσσον (boúglōsson)
* βούγλωσσος (boúglōssos)
* βουδόρος (boudóros)
* βουθυσία (bouthusía)
* βουθυτέω (bouthutéō)
* βούθυτος (boúthutos)
* Βουκέφαλος (Bouképhalos)
* βουκολέω (boukoléō)
* βουκολία (boukolía)
* βουκόλιον (boukólion)
* βουκόλος (boukólos)
* βούκολος (boúkolos)
* βουκόρῡζᾰ (boukórūză)
* βουνομέω (bounoméō)
* βούνομος (boúnomos)
* βουστροφηδόν (boustrophēdón)
* βούσῡκον (boúsūkon)
* βούτης (boútēs)
* βούτρᾰγος (boútrăgos)
* βούτῡρον (boútūron)
* βούτῡρος (boútūros)
* βούφθαλμον (boúphthalmon)
* βούφονος (boúphonos)
* βουφορβέω (bouphorbéō)
* βουφόρβια (bouphórbia)
* βουφορβός (bouphorbós)
* βοῶπις (boôpis)
* ἑκατόμβη (hekatómbē)
* ἐπιβουκόλος (epiboukólos)
* πρέσβῠς (présbŭs)

#### Descendants

* Greek: βόδι (vódi), βόιδι n (vóidi)
* Tsakonian: βου (vou)
* ⇒ Translingual: Bucephala

### References

* ↑ https://explorehomer.scaife-viewer.org/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.msA:7.238

### Further reading

* “βοῦς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “βοῦς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “βοῦς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* βοῦς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
* βοῦς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* βοῦς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
* “βοῦς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* G1016 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. bull idem, page 103.cow idem, page 180.ox idem, page 587.
* Mycenaean Greek Word List