Lūca (“Lucanian”) + bōs (“cow”), to mean elephant because the Romans first saw elephants in Heraclea, a city in Lucania, as part of Pyrrhus of Epirus's army.
Lūca bōs f (irregular, variously declined, genitive Lūcae bovis); first declension, third declension
First-declension noun with a third-declension noun (irregular).
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Lūca bōs | Lūcae bovēs |
| genitive | Lūcae bovis | Lūcārum boum |
| dative | Lūcae bovī | Lūcīs bōbus Lūcīs būbus |
| accusative | Lūcam bovem | Lūcās bovēs |
| ablative | Lūcā bove | Lūcīs bōbus Lūcīs būbus |
| vocative | Lūca bōs | Lūcae bovēs |