bovine

[ boh-vahyn, -vin, -veen ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the subfamily Bovinae, which includes cattle, buffalo, and kudus.
2. oxlike; cowlike.
3. stolid; dull.

noun

1. a bovine animal.

bovine

/ ˈbəʊvaɪn /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Bovini (cattle), a bovid tribe including domestic cattle
2. (of people) dull; sluggish; stolid

noun

1. any animal belonging to the Bovini

bovine

/ bō′vīn′ /

1. Characteristic of or resembling cows or cattle.

Derived Forms

• ˈbovinely, adverb

Other Words From

• bovine·ly adverb
• bo·vin·i·ty [boh-, vin, -i-tee], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bovine¹

1810–20; < Late Latin bovīnus of, pertaining to oxen or cows, equivalent to Latin bov- (stem of bōs ) ox + -īnus -ine ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bovine¹

C19: from Late Latin bovīnus concerning oxen or cows, from Latin bōs ox, cow

Example Sentences

Made with grass-fed bovine collagen, this powder is the perfect addition to a chocolate lover’s pre- or post-workout smoothie.

From Outside Online

This one packs 11 grams of bovine collagen peptides in every scoop and dissolves easily.

From Outside Online

In 1893, a Raleigh newspaper carried an account of an elderly man recalling with undisguised scorn the anti-vaxxers of earlier decades who believed that childhood vaccines would lead young people to develop “bovine propensities.”

From Time

This 620-foot-long exercise in bovine pedagogy is by Analia Saban, who was born in Argentina and lives in the United States.

From Washington Post

It’s a challenge, because the life cycle of a bovine is pretty long, compared to any other meat protein.

From MIT Technology Review

He sat before a wall full of badges, in a big swivel chair, his bovine features set in mistrustful concentration.

From The Daily Beast

The urge to move your marine bovine sandy pollock cosmopolitan hotels will be strong.

From The Daily Beast

Those cells, however, were then grown using fetal bovine serum, an unappetizing by-product of the slaughter of pregnant cattle.

From The Daily Beast

This miniaturized gym routine enabled the scientists to grow usable quantities of bovine muscle—otherwise known as beef.

From The Daily Beast

Host Joe Rogan gleefully watches the contestants gag and struggle through the bovine brains until one young man quits altogether.

From The Daily Beast

She was a plump-faced, insipid child, with fair hair and pale blue eyes, stolid and bovine in their expressionlessness.

From Project Gutenberg

Later, while we three cast-aways drifted with the bovine tide, he spoke to Piegan Smith.

From Project Gutenberg

Bill Barry's statement that the cru-colored bovine was "lively" and could outrun his sorrel mare was, at least founded upon fact.

From Project Gutenberg

The other man was negligible—a bovine lump of flesh without personality—born to hew wood and draw water for men of enterprise.

From Project Gutenberg

He realized that the bovine belonged to the gentle sex, and anything was to be expected.

From Project Gutenberg