Etymology

buxom

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Today it means: Having a full, voluptuous figure, especially possessing large breasts. Full definition →

Middle English buxom ← Old English bōcsum ← Proto-West Germanic *beuhsam
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*beuhsam
  2. Old English · inherited frombōcsum
  3. Middle English · inherited frombuxom
  4. English todaybuxom

From Middle English buxom, also ibucsum, ibuhsum (“bendsome, flexible, pliant, obedient”), from Old English bōcsum, *būhsum, *ġebūhsum (“bendsome, pliant, obedient”), from Proto-West Germanic *beuhsam, *beugsam, equivalent to bow (“to bend, bow at the waist”) + -some or buck (“to bend, buckle, kick”) + -some. Cognate with Scots bowsome (“compliant”), West Frisian bûgsum (“flexible, bendy”), Dutch buigzaam (“flexible, pliant”), German biegsam (“flexible, pliant”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.