Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or resembling a ruminant mammal of the bovid subfamily Bovinae, especially one in the genus Bos, such as a cow, ox, or buffalo.
  • adjective Sluggish, dull, and stolid.
  • noun An animal of the subfamily Bovinae, especially one of the genus Bos.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining or belonging to oxen, or specifically to the Bovinæ; boviform.
  • Ox-like; stolid; inert; dull.
  • noun One of the Bovinæ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the genus Bos; relating to, or resembling, the ox or cow; oxlike.
  • adjective Having qualities characteristic of oxen or cows; sluggish and patient; dull.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective not comparable Of or pertaining to cattle.
  • adjective not comparable Belonging to the tribe Bovini, including cows, buffalo, and bison.
  • adjective Sluggish, dull, slow-witted.
  • noun An animal of the family Bovidae, including cattle, buffaloes and bison.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective dull and slow-moving and stolid; like an ox
  • noun any of various members of the genus Bos
  • adjective of or relating to or belonging to the genus Bos (cattle)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Late Latin bovīnus, from Latin bōs, bov-, cow; see gwou- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin bovīnus, from bōs ("ox"). Cognate to beef.

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Examples

Comments

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  • OZ'S VOICE

    You billowing bale of bovine fodder!

    June 10, 2010