A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Bubo,-onis (s.m./f. III), abl.sg. bubone:

1. Bubo,-onis (s.m.III): “Medieval Latin from Gk. boubOn, ‘groin, gland, bubo:’ an inflammatory swelling of a lymph gland esp. in the groin, that is due to the absorption of infective material (as in gonorrhea, syphilis or the [bubonic] plague” (WIII) [> Gk. boubOn, -Onos (s.m.III): groin; (in pl., glands); a swollen gland; ALSO = Lat. bubo, owl” (Liddell & Scott); cf. medieval Latin British: tumor in groin or sim.

2. Bubo,-onis (s.m.III): “from L., horned owl; akin to Gk. byas, byza, ‘owl’: a nearly cosmopolitan genus of large horned owls including the eagle owls” (WIII); also Gk. boubOn,-Onos (s.m.III), ‘owl’ (Liddell & Scott); cf. Medieval Latin British: ‘a kind of owl;’ “an owl, the horned owl, Strix bubo, L. whose cry was considered as ill-boding” (Lewis & Short); “the horned or eagle owl, esp. as a bird of ill omen” (Glare); cf. bubulo,-are 1. “to cry, hoot, or screech like an owl” (Lewis & Short).

[birds] Bubo ignavus B. maximus;

- Bubo profana avis, the [horned] owl, a bird of ill-omen.

- Bubo funereus, the (horned) owl, the bird of death, the fatal bird.

Great Horned Owl: 1. A large North American owl (Bubo virginianus) with conspicuous ear tufts; an [Eurasian] eagle owl (Bubo bubo)”(WIII).

NOTE: Gk. buas,-ou (s.m.stem?) ‘eagle-owl, Strix bubo” (Liddell & Scott); also bruas,-ou ((s.m.stem?) (Liddell & Scott) = [varia lectio, i.e. with various interpretations or meanings]; Buza (s.f.I; z = zeta): = buas (Liddell & Scott); cf. buzO: to hoot (Liddell & Scott).

The genus of birds Bias, Lesson (1831), is said to derive from Gk. ‘buas [genitive sg. buou]’ (Wiktionary “Bias” Feb.25,2022) and represents birds of the family Platysteiridae; the “black-and-white shrike-flycatcher,” Bias musicus Vieillot (1818), a passerine bird of South Africa; Bias has masculine gender.