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Origin and history of bucolic

bucolic(adj.)

"pastoral, relating to country life or the affairs and occupations of a shepherd," 1610s, earlier bucolical (1520s), from Latin bucolicus, from Greek boukolikos "pastoral, rustic," from boukolos "cowherd, herdsman," from bous "cow" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + -kolos "tending," related to Latin colere "to till (the ground), cultivate, dwell, inhabit" (from PIE root *kwel- (1) "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell"). Middle Irish búachaill, Welsh bugail "shepherd" are Celtic words formed from the same root material as Greek boukolos.

also from 1610s

Entries linking to bucolic

*gwou-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "ox, bull, cow," perhaps ultimately imitative of lowing; compare Sumerian gu, Chinese ngu, ngo "ox."

It might form all or part of: beef; Boeotian; Bosphorus; boustrophedon; bovine; bugle; Bucephalus; bucolic; buffalo; bugloss; bulimia; butane; butter; butyl; butyric; cow (n.); cowbell; cowboy; cowlick; cowslip; Euboea; Gurkha; hecatomb; kine.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit gaus, Greek bous, Latin bos, Old Irish bo, Latvian guovs, Armenian gaus, Old English cu, German Kuh, Old Norse kyr, Slovak hovado "cow, ox."

In Germanic and Celtic, of females only; in most other languages, of either gender. For "cow" Latin uses bos femina or vacca, a separate word of unknown origin. Other "cow" words sometimes are from roots meaning "horn, horned," such as Lithuanian karvė, Old Church Slavonic krava.

*kwel-(1)

also *kwelə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell."

It might form all or part of: accolade; ancillary; atelo-; bazaar; bicycle; bucolic; chakra; chukker; collar; collet; colonial; colony; cult; cultivate; culture; cyclamen; cycle; cyclo-; cyclone; Cyclops; decollete; encyclical; encyclopedia; entelechy; epicycle; hauberk; hawse; inquiline; kultur; lapidocolous; nidicolous; palimpsest; palindrome; palinode; pole (n.2) "ends of Earth's axis;" pulley; rickshaw; talisman; teleology; telic; telophase; telos; torticollis; wheel.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit cakram "circle, wheel," carati "he moves, wanders;" Avestan caraiti "applies himself," c'axra "chariot, wagon;" Greek kyklos "circle, wheel, any circular body, circular motion, cycle of events,"polos "a round axis" (PIE *kw- becomes Greek p- before some vowels), polein "move around;" Latin colere "to frequent, dwell in, to cultivate, move around," cultus "tended, cultivated," hence also "polished," colonus "husbandman, tenant farmer, settler, colonist;" Lithuanian kelias "a road, a way;" Old Norse hvel, Old English hweol "wheel;" Old Church Slavonic kolo, Old Russian kolo, Polish koło, Russian koleso "a wheel."

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    pastoral
    early 15c., "of or pertaining to shepherds or the life of a shepherd," from Old French pastoral (13c.) and directly from Latin pastoralis "of herdsmen, of shepherds," from pastor "shepherd" (see pastor (n.)). Meaning "of or pertaining to a Christian pastor or his office" is from
    peasant
    "rural person of inferior rank or condition," usually engaged in agricultural labor, early 15c., paisaunt, from Anglo-French paisant (early 14c.), Old French paisant, paisent "local inhabitant" (12c., Modern French paysan), earlier paisenc, from pais "country, region" (Modern Fre
    provincial
    late 14c., "pertaining to a province," originally ecclesiastical, in reference to the jurisdiction of an archbishop or the districts of orders of friars, from Old French provincial "belonging to a particular province (of friars)" (13c.), from Latin provincialis "of a province," f
    anapest
    also anapaest, "two short or unaccented syllables followed by a long or accented one," 1670s, from Latin anapaestus, from Greek anapaistos "struck back, rebounding," as a noun "an anapest," verbal adjective from anapaiein "to strike back," from ana- "back" (see ana-) + paiein "to
    dilly
    "delightful or excellent person or thing" (often used ironically), 1935, American English, from an earlier adjective (1909), which is perhaps from the first syllable of delightful or delicious. Or perhaps the noun is related to the 19c. nursery word for "duck." Dilly was also sla
    citrus
    any tree of the genus Citrus, or its fruit, 1825, from the Modern Latin genus name, from Latin citrus "citron tree," the name of an African tree with aromatic wood and lemon-like fruit, the first citrus fruit to become available in the West. The name, like the tree, is probably o
    rustic
    mid-15c., rustik, "associated with the country, rural," from Latin rusticus "of the country, rural; country-like, plain, simple, rough, coarse, awkward," from rus (genitive ruris) "open land, country" (see rural). From 1580s, of persons, "having the look and manner of country fol
    habit
    early 13c., "characteristic attire of a religious or clerical order," from Old French habit, abit "clothing, (ecclesiastical) habit; conduct" (12c.), from Latin habitus "condition, demeanor, appearance, dress," originally past participle of habere "to have, hold, possess; wear; f
    iron
    Middle English iron, iren, yron, from Old English iren, variant (with rhotacism of -s-) of isen, later form of isern, isærn "the metal iron; an iron weapon or instrument," from Proto-Germanic *isarn (source also of Old Saxon isarn, Old Frisian isern, Old Norse isarn, Middle Dutch
    hobby
    c. 1400, hobi, "small, active horse," short for hobyn (mid-14c.; late 13c. in Anglo-Latin), probably originally a proper name for a horse (compare dobbin), a diminutive of Robert or Robin. Old French hobi, hobin, once considered possible sources, now are held to be borrowings fro

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