Dictionary

bouk en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /bəʊk/
• /buːk/ (UK, dialectal)
• /baʊk/

Etymology

From Middle English bouk, from Old English būc (“belly, stomach, pitcher”), from Proto-West Germanic *būk, from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, body”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to blow, swell”). Doublet of bucket. Cognate with Scots bouk, bowk, buik (“body, carcass”), Dutch buik (“belly”), German Bauch (“belly”), Swedish buk (“belly, abdomen”), Norwegian Bokmål buk (“belly”), Icelandic búkur (“torso”). For the phonetic development, compare puck, suck.

Meanings

1. (UK, dialectal, obsolete) The belly.
2. (UK, dialectal) The trunk or torso of the body, hence the body itself.
3. (UK, dialectal) The carcass of a slaughtered animal.

Forms