noun · femininefirst declension
boa
boa f (genitive boae)
Meaning
- feminineA large snake native to Roman Italy.
- feminineA disease, the measles or smallpox.
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | boa | boae |
| genitive | boae | boārum |
| dative | boae | boīs |
| accusative | boam | boās |
| ablative | boā | boīs |
| vocative | boa | boae |
bŏa (also bŏva in the MSS. of Pliny and Festus), ae, f. bos; cf. βουβών,
I. a large Italian serpent: in Italiă appellatae bovae in tantam amplitudinem exeuntes ut divo Claudio principe occisae in Vaticano solidus in alvo spectatus infans, Plin. 8, 14, 14, § 37; 30, 14, 47, § 138 sq.; Sol. 2; acc. to Paul. ex Fest. p. 30 Müll., a water-serpent, so called because it milked cows, Sol. 2, 33; or because it could swallow an ox, quas boas vocant, ab eo quod tam grandes sint ut boves gluttire soleant, Hier. Vit. Hil. Erem. 39.—
II. A disease producing red pustules, the measles or small-pox, Plin. 24, 8, 35, § 53: boam id est rubentes papulas. id. 26, 11, 73, § 120:
boas fimum bubulum abolet: unde et nomen traxere, id. 28, 18, 75, § 244; Lucil. ap. Fest. s. v. tama, p. 360 Müll.—III. Crurum quoque tumor viae labore collectus bova appellatur, Paul. ex Fest. p. 30 Müll. (the same author explains with these words the disease tama).
Origins
First mentioned by Pliny. From Proto-Italic *gʷouā (with the b- due to a Sabellic intermediary), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷówyeh₂, a derivative of *gʷówyos (“pertaining to cows”). The semantic derivation stems from folk beliefs that snakes could drink cow milk; such folklore also underlies Serbo-Croatian guja and kravosas, the former being an exact cognate to the Latin word.
Descendants
- Englishboafrom Middle English boa
- Frenchboafrom Middle French boa
- GermanBoa
- Istriotboa
- Istriotbuasèra
- Indonesianboafrom Middle Dutch boa