bovine

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English

WOTD – 9 May 2008

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin bovīnus (“relating to cattle”), from Latin bōs (“ox”). Cognate to beef.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbəʊ.vaɪn/
  • (US): enPR: bōʹvīn', bōʹvēn', bōʹvĭn; IPA(key): /ˈboʊˌvaɪn/, /ˈboʊˌvin/, /ˈboʊ.vɪn/
    • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: (UK) -əʊvaɪn, (US) -oʊvaɪn

Adjective

bovine (comparative more bovine, superlative most bovine)

  1. (not comparable) Of or pertaining to cattle.
    Synonyms: neatish, (archaic) vaccine
  2. (not comparable) Belonging to the family, subfamily, tribe, or genera including cows, buffalo, and bison.
  3. Sluggish, dull, slow-witted.
    • 1988, Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, William Heinemann Ltd, page 48:
      They had been selected and arranged with a dull, bovine indifference to any meaning that any of them might have.
    • 2018 August 16, Marina Hyde, “Sorry to break it to you, far-righters: James Bond is not on your team”, in The Guardian‎:
      For reasons which are really a matter for a trainee psychoanalyst, who plays James Bond is a big thing for Spencer. To this end, he has unleashed a series of thoughts so bovine that I’ll just give you one for a little flavour.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

bovine (plural bovines)

  1. An animal of the family, subfamily, tribe, or genera including cattle, buffaloes and bison.

Translations

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

bovine

  1. feminine singular of bovin

Italian

Adjective

bovine

  1. feminine plural of bovino

Anagrams

Latin

Adjective

bovīne

  1. vocative masculine singular of bovīnus
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