Meanings
- not comparableOf or pertaining to cattle.
Hither, my Juno! with your eyes so bovial, Give me a song—old Jove was ever joveial.
1826 May, P. T., “The Deluge—A Ridiculous Drama”, in The Literary Lounger, page 2313 more examples
It was only a pile of skin and bones after all. An animal, or rather a bovial collapse.
1849, reprinted 1999, Israel Shipman Pelton Lord, edited by Necia Dixon Liles, A Doctor's Gold Rush Journey to California, University of Nebraska Press, page 122Arthur nodded, and his face grew still more red, as the oxygenizing current of roast-bovial recollections streamed through the flame of animation now feebly flickering in his brain.
1870 March, Jean Pry, “Jonathan Ferret and the Prince”, in Leisure Times, volume III, number VI, page 211Parathyroid Hormone: A chemically stable aqueous solution containing the active ingredients of the bovial parathyroid glands.
1945, Leo Richard Cipes, Prescription Writing and Materia Medica for Dentists, Dental items of interest Publishing Company, page 44
Origin
- Latinbovīnus
- Englishbovial
From Latin bovīnus, from bōs (“ox”). Cognate to beef.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
bovial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bovial
“bovial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bovial. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bovial,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bovial.
Source: bovial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.