Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An ancient method of writing in which the lines are inscribed alternately from right to left and from left to right.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A method of writing shown in early Greek inscriptions, in which the lines run alternately from right to left and from left to right, as the furrows made in plowing a field, the plow passing alternately backward and forward.
Wiktionary
- adv. of writing, in a fashion such that the reading direction changes from right-to-left to left-to-right every line.
- adj. written from right-to-left and left-to-right on alternate lines
- adj. figuratively changing direction, going back and forth
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An ancient mode of writing, in alternate directions, one line from left to right, and the next from right to left (as fields are plowed), as in early Greek and Hittite.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an ancient writing system: having alternate lines written in opposite directions; literally `as the ox ploughs'
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek βουστροφηδόν (boustrophēdon), from βοῦς (bous, "ox") + στροφή (strophē, "turning") + -δον (-don, "adverbial suffix"). (Wiktionary)
- From Greek boustrophēdon, turning like an ox while plowing : bous, ox; see gwou- in Indo-European roots + strophē, a turning (from strephein, to turn; see streb(h)- in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“[or rather, down, up, down: the form of writing known as boustrophedon, that is, the way an ox turns in a furrow].”
“There's also the matter of the winding boustrophedon path of the pawns along the three rows of the board at least, according to Timothy Kendall's rules.”
“This winding path is yet again an otherworldly symbolism and is related to the reason why ancient inscriptions in Etruria and in the Aegean area were sometimes written in a boustrophedon or spiral pattern.”
“Whereas, false boustrophedon, alternate lines instead of having vertical orientation will curl around upside down, this also being called Schlangenschrift which means snake-writing.”
“It was written on ostrich skin in the boustrophedon style, in which one line was read from left to right and the next from right to left and so on.”
“Or consider the Etruscan habit of writing in "boustrophedon style.”
“Greek alphabet, written from right to left, or in boustrophedon.”
“The famous Sigean inscription is written in the most ancient of Greek letters, boustrophedon-wise; that is, the lines follow each other as oxen turn from one furrow to another in ploughing.”
“Explain to me the virtues of the vertical boustrophedon, 3or the treasures contained in the numeral ziruph, and in those of the numeral zephirod.”
“Boghaz-Keui, Mount Sipylus, the Pass of Karabel: all presented the same strange hieroglyphic characters, engraved in relief and in boustrophedon fashion.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘boustrophedon’.
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Word Words
This used to be my nym list, but there are so many words about words, I think it's time to expand and open.
acronym, antonym, aptronym, autoantonym, autonym, bacronym, capitonym, contranym, contronym, eponym, exonym, heteronym and 120 more...
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phrontistery - b
List of words from phrontistery.info
babeldom, baccate, bacchanal, bacciferous, bacciform, baccivorous, bacillicide, backstay, bactericide, baculiform, baculine, baculum and 582 more...
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Not 250 Spelling Words Again
Yet more spelling words for intermediate to advanced spellers.
kyoodle, heimin, feis, menarche, cordwainer, gherao, zythum, accidie, anastomosis, boustrophedon, oleum, penicillin and 238 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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Words About Words
code-switching, amphiboly, hermeneutics, echolalia, boustrophedon, logorrhea, trope, harangue, shibboleth, rhotic, susurrous, metonymy and 6 more...
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There's a word for it
catkin, pastiche, badonkadonk, biome, omphaloscopy, pogonophobia, reptation, anathema, xyst, commodify, commoditize, monetize and 69 more...
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Typographic Terms
macron, happy, discombobulated, minuscule, grapheme, grotesque, marginalia, diacritical, circumflex, boustrophedon, allograph, analphabetic and 7 more...
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Linguistic Terms
Words that (mostly) only linguists know.
arpabet, protologism, diacritic, macron, macaronic, capitonym, grapheme, boustrophedon, allograph, analphabetic, idiomatic, portmanteau and 40 more...
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Scribblative ✍
Scrawlings, notes, odd writings, and messages.
doodle, notation, scrawl, tracing, scribble, latrinalia, sketch, squiggle, notelet, post-it, chicken scratch, caligraphy and 88 more...
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Metawords
Talking about talking, writing about writing, etc.
epizeuxis, tautological, aptote, bibliophagist, parataxis, scriptorium, aposiopesis, variorum, chantefable, boustrophedon, psellism, adoxography and 51 more...
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Literally
Words with definitions that contain the word "literally."
Biblicist, cy pres, literally, lit., loan translation, metaphrase, polite, Embarrass, repentance, rabbi, sparkle, article and 30 more...
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•Dinosaurs that weren't, but should h...
piscidactyl, legosaurus, monodactyl, bigassmealontheho..., opensaurus, hacksaurus, phelpsasaurus, nastiasaur, clavicytherium, compusaurus, textodactyl, pterostegoraptor and 55 more...
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Actual Words
I checked, because I wasn't sure, but these words were coined and entered into a dictionary before I thought them up.
dishevelment, commoditize, feck, foppery, grimoire, apposite, impassible, reparable, arithmomania, patois, absquatulate, scopperil and 18 more...
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Of Curious Provenance
Words with interesting etymologies.
boustrophedon, octothorpe, neurogami, shampoo, rubric, vernacular, ovolo, mojo, sycophant, wiki, obstreperous, geezer and 8 more...
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Penmanship
Spencerian method, Palmer method, Platt R. Spencer, cursive, round hand, running hand, handwriting, stylus, pen, vellum, penmanship, script and 86 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for boustrophedon.
jmjarmstrong JM thoroughly enjoys the idea of boustrophedon.
!ti esu ot seitinutroppo erom erew ereht sehsiw MJ
Jul 12, 2009
ofravens Sounds like a name for a newly-discovered species of dinosaur. May 15, 2008
seanahan Actually, when I read I move my neck after each line, so the work is saved on the neck. Furthermore, it is probably bad to have the neck in place for a long time, so moving it periodically could be healthy! Oct 23, 2007
uselessness I'm sure to the trained reader this sort
esuaceb ,tneiciffe ylbirret si gnitirw fo
it reduces the work of the eye by 50%.
redner ot lacitcarpmi rehtar si ti ,llitS
since most computer software doesn't
eb tsum txet dna noisrevni enil troppus
flipped manually. And since the format is
tnemngila ,epyt deifitsuj rof detius-tseb
also becomes an issue. Not to mention the
eurT .gniht sdrawkcab gnidaer elohw
boustrophedon may not even be possible with
sretcarahc derorrim sa ygolonhcet tnerruc
are not supported for the entire alphabet
.dradnats edocinU eht ni Oct 22, 2007
vanishedone To read regular boustrophedon texts, you alternate between reading lines left-to-right and right-to-left. Reverse boustrophedon texts need to be inverted 180° after each line. Oct 21, 2007
en_dash from 'as the plow follows the ox' Dec 10, 2006