Wiktionary

bovine

English

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WOTD – 9 May 2008

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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[1]:
      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

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Translations

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Noun

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bovine (plural bovines)

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

Translations

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French

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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bovine

  1. feminine singular of bovin

Italian

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Adjective

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bovine

  1. feminine plural of bovino

Anagrams

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Latin

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Adjective

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bovīne

  1. vocative masculine singular of bovīnus
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