LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

bucca1

bucca f (genitive buccae)
Classical[ˈbʊk.ka]Ecclesiastical[ˈbuk.ka]

Meaning

  1. femininethe soft part of the cheek puffed or filled out in speaking or eating
  2. femininein pluralthe jaw
  3. colloquialfemininethe mouth
    sī valēbit, puls in buccam bētetif he's well, the porridge will find a way into his mouthLucius Pomponius Bononiensis, Comedies 150
  4. femininemetonymicallyone who fills his cheeks in speaking; declaimer, bawler
  5. femininemetonymicallyone who stuffs out his cheeks in eating; parasite
  6. femininemetonymicallya mouthful
  7. feminineany cavity in general
  8. feminineA catchword of uncertain meaning used in a guessing game, possibly equivalent and/or related to English buck buck.
    bucca, bucca, quot sunt hīc?c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 64.12

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativebuccabuccae
genitivebuccaebuccārum
dativebuccaebuccīs
accusativebuccambuccās
ablativebuccābuccīs
vocativebuccabuccae

bucca (not buccha), ae, f. kindred with βύζω, βυκάνη; Fr. bouche.
I. The cheek (puffed or filled out in speaking, eating, etc.; diff. from genae, the side of the face, the cheeks, and from mala, the upper part of the cheek under the eyes; v. Plin. 11, 37, 57, § 156 sqq.; mostly in plur.; class.): buccam implere, Cato ap. Gell. 2, 22, 29: sufflare buccas, Plaut. Stich. 5, 4, 42: inflare, id. ib. 5, 6, 7: rumpere buccas, to write bombast, Pers. 5, 13: sufflare buccis, Mart. 3, 17, 4.—In violent anger (cf. in Gr. φυσᾶν τὰς γνάθους, δεινὰ φυσᾶν, etc.): quin illis Juppiter ambas Iratus buccas inflet, etc., * Hor. S. 1, 1, 21: pictus Gallus ... distortus, ejectā linguā, buccis fluentibus, Cic. de Or. 2, 66, 266; id. Red. in Sen. 6, 13: fluentes pulsataeque buccae, id. Pis. 11, 25 B. and K.: purpurissatae (rouged), Plaut. Truc. 2, 2, 35.—In blowing the fire: buccā foculum excitat, Juv. 3, 262 al.—Hence,
b. Dicere (scribere) quod or quidquid in buccam venit, a colloq. phrase, to speak (write) whatever comes uppermost, Cic. Att. 1, 12, 4; 7, 10 fin.; 14, 7, 2; Mart. 12, 24, 5.— Also ellipt.: garrimus quidquid in buccam, Cic. Att. 12, 1, 2.—
B. Meton.
1. One who fills his cheeks in speaking, a declaimer, bawler: Curtius et Matho buccae, Juv. 11, 34 (jactanticuli, qui tantum buccas inflant et nihil dicunt, Schol.); cf.: bucca loquax vetuli cinoedi, Mart. 1, 42, 13: homo durae buccae, Petr. 43, 3; so of a trumpeter: notaeque per oppida buccae, Juv. 3, 35.—
2. One who stuffs out his cheeks in eating, a parasite, Petr. 64, 12.—
3. A mouthful: bucca panis, Petr. 44, 2; Mart. 7, 20, 8; 10, 5, 5.—
II. Transf.
A. From men to animals; of croaking frogs, Plin. 11, 37, 65, § 173.—
B. In gen., a cavity; of the knee-joint, Plin. 11, 45, 103, § 250.

Origins

Uncertain. Celtic origin is suspected due to similarity with beccus (“beak”), names like Gaulish Buccus, Buccō, Bucciō as well as the appearance of words bocca and boca (of unknown meaning) on the Larzac tablet. IEW compares it with Proto-Germanic *puhô (“bag, pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew, *bʰew- (“to swell, puff”), whose initial b- would point to a substrate or imitative origin. Compare also English puke, German fauchen.

Elsewhere
  • Englishbucca
  • Englishbuccal
  • Frenchbuccal
  • Occitanbocafrom Old Occitan bocha
  • Sardinianbuca
  • Albanianbukë
  • Egyptian Arabicبق
  • Bretonboc'hfrom Proto-Brythonic *box
  • Cornishboghfrom Proto-Brythonic *box
  • Welshbochfrom Proto-Brythonic *box
Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italianbocca
  • Italianbuca
  • Corsicanbocca
  • Dalmatianbuca
  • Istriotbóca
  • Istriotbuſ
  • Judeo-Italianבוּקַה
  • Neapolitanvocca
  • Sassaresebocca
  • Sicilianvucca
Western Iberian
  • Portuguesebocafrom Old Galician-Portuguese boca
  • Spanishbocafrom Old Spanish boca
  • Extremaduranboca
  • Aragoneseboca
  • Asturianboca
  • Leonesebouca
  • Mirandeseboca
  • Galicianbocafrom Old Galician-Portuguese boca
Eastern Romance
  • Romanianbucă
  • Aromanianbucã
Oïl
  • Frenchbouchefrom Old French boche
  • Bourguignonbôchefrom Old French boche
  • Normanbouochefrom Old French boche
  • Walloonboutchefrom Old French boche
Gallo-Italic
  • Ligurianbócca
  • Romagnolbóca
Rhaeto-Romance
  • Friulianbocje
  • Friulianbočhe
  • Romanshbucca
proper noun · masculinefirst declension
Bucca2
Bucca m sg (genitive Buccae)
Classical[ˈbʊk.ka]Ecclesiastical[ˈbuk.ka]

Meaning

  1. masculinesingulara cognomen used by the gens Aemilia
    Lucius Aemilius Bucca

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeBucca—
genitiveBuccae—
dativeBuccae—
accusativeBuccam—
ablativeBuccā—
vocativeBucca—

Origins

From bucca (“jaw, cheeks”), of uncertain etymology. In Atellan Farce, the character of "Buccus" was a fat-cheeked gluttonous and boastful country buffoon.

Quick answers

What does bucca mean in Latin?
bucca, a noun, means “the soft part of the cheek puffed or filled out in speaking or eating; the jaw; the mouth”.
What is the genitive of bucca?
The genitive singular is buccae. bucca is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce bucca?
In classical Latin, [ˈbʊk.ka]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈbuk.ka].