buxom

English

WOTD – 20 August 2010

Alternative forms

• bucksome(archaic)

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishbuxum,buhsum,bucsum,alsoibucsum,ibuhsum(“bendsome, flexible, pliant, obedient”),fromOld Englishbōcsum,*būhsum,*ġebūhsum(“bendsome, pliant, obedient”),fromProto-West Germanic*beuhsam,*beugsam,equivalent tobow(“to bend, bow at the waist”)+‎-someorbuck(“to bend, buckle, kick”)+‎-some.

Cognate withScotsbowsome(“compliant”),West Frisianbûgsum(“flexible, bendy”),Dutchbuigzaam(“flexible, pliant”),Germanbiegsam(“flexible, pliant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈbʌksəm/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Audio(General Australian):

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Adjective

buxom(comparativebuxomerormorebuxom,superlativebuxomestormostbuxom)

1. (of a woman)Having afull,voluptuousfigure,especially possessing largebreasts.

   Synonyms:bosomy,big-breasted,busty,chesty,plump,round,shapely,full-throated;see alsoThesaurus:voluptuous

   • 1961November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Eternal City”, inCatch-22[…],New York, N.Y.:Simon and Schuster,→OCLC,page433:

     Aarfy'sbuxomtrollop had vanished with her smutty cameo ring, and Nurse Duckett was ashamed of him because he had refused to fly more combat missions and would cause a scandal.

   • 2003July 23, “Milestones”, inTime‎^[1],archived fromthe originalon23 June 2008:

     DIED. Robert Brooks, 69, canny businessman who, as chairman of Hooters, turned the bar-restaurant chain, famed forbuxomwaitresses in orange hot pants, into an international success.

2. (dated)Fullofhealth,vigour,andgoodtemper.

   Synonyms:gay,vigorous

   • a.1645,John Milton,“L’Allegro”,inPoems of Mr. John Milton,[…],London:[…]Ruth Raworth forHumphrey Mosely,[…],published1646,→OCLC,page31:

     There on Beds of Violets blew, / And freſh-blown Roſes waſht in dew, / Fill'd her with thee a daughter fair, / Sobuckſom,blith, and debonair.

   • 1932,John Buchan,chapter IV, inThe Gap in the Curtain:

     Claypole, thebuxomnovelist,...[his] bubbling utterances....

   • 1896,Thomas Hardy,“Dame the Eighth: The Lady Penelope”, inA Group of Noble Dames:

     So heated and impassioned, indeed, would they become, that the lady hardly felt herself safe in their company at such times, notwithstanding that she was a brave andbuxomdamsel, not easily put out, and with a daring spirit of humour in her composition.

   • 1922,Sinclair Lewis,“26”,inBabbitt:

     He had not seen Zilla since Paul had shot her, and he still pictured her asbuxom,high-colored, lively, and a little blowsy.

3. (obsolete)Physicallyflexibleorunresisting.

   Synonyms:pliant,pliable,flexible,malleable,plastic

   • 1615,Helkiah Crooke,Mikrokosmographia:

     Their substance is of a middle Nature betwixt bones and gristles moderately hard, the better to beare the violence of outward iniures, flexible orbuxomethat they should not breake but giue way to violence, pellucide or transparant and therefore they are either red or liuid according to their flesh vnder them.

4. (obsolete,by extension)Morallypliant;obedientand easilyyieldingtopressure.

   Synonyms:compliant,tractable

   • 1596,Edmund Spenser,The Faerie Queene,VI.8::

     They downe him hold, and fast with cords do bynde, / Till they him force thebuxomeyoke to beare […].

   • 1869,Newell Connop Thirlwall,Letters:

     You will certainly be rewarded for this improvement in your conduct by a notable increase of tranquillity and cheerfulness in your view both of the past and of the future; and in the hope that you will bebuxomand good, I conclude by New Year's lecture.

Derived terms

• buxomly
• buxomness
• unbuxom

Translations

having a full, voluptuous figure

• Cebuano:bigot,mamords
• Czech:baculatá,kyprá(cs),vnadná,vyvinutá,krev a mlíko(o ženě)
• Danish:barmfager
• Dutch:rondborstig(nl)
• Esperanto:abunda(eo)
• Faroese:prúður
• Finnish:povekas(fi),rintava(fi),rehevä(fi),isorintainen
• French:bien en chair(fr)
• German:drall(de),vollbusig(de)
• Greek:ελκυστικός(el)(elkystikós),ζωηρός(el)(zoïrós),όμορφος(el)(ómorfos)
• Hungarian:telt(hu)
• Indonesian:montok(id)
• Italian:formosaf,prosperosaf,tettona(it)f
• Manx:roauyr
• Norwegian:yppig
• Portuguese:tetuda,peituda(pt)
• Romanian:durduliu(ro),țâțoasă(ro)f,pieptoasăf
• Russian:полногру́дая(ru)f(polnogrúdaja)(possessing large breasts, feminine form)
• Scottish Gaelic:lìontan,thiughf,mhaiseachf
• Spanish:pechugona(es)f,maciza(es)f,tetona(es)f
• Swedish:frodig(sv),bystig,yppig(sv)
• Turkish:dolgun(tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Mandarin:^{(pleaseverify)}Ao đột hữu trí(āotūyǒuzhì)

References

• “buxom”,inDictionary.com Unabridged,Dictionary.com, LLC,1995–present.