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boustrophedon

Meaning of "boustrophedon" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD BOUSTROPHEDON

From Greek, literally: turning as in ploughing with oxen, from bous ox + -strophēdon from strephein to turn.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF BOUSTROPHEDON

ˌbuːstrəˈfiːdən


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF BOUSTROPHEDON

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Boustrophedon is an adjective.
The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

WHAT DOES BOUSTROPHEDON MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Boustrophedon

Boustrophedon is a kind of bi-directional text, mostly seen in ancient manuscripts and other inscriptions. Every other line of writing is flipped or reversed, with reversed letters. Rather than going left-to-right as in modern English, or right-to-left as in Arabic and Hebrew, alternate lines in boustrophedon must be read in opposite directions. Also, the individual characters are reversed, or mirrored. The name "boustrophedon" is taken from the Greek language. Its etymology is from βούς, bous, "ox" + στρέφειν, strephein, "to turn", because the hand of the writer goes back and forth like an ox drawing a plough across a field and turning at the end of each row to return in the opposite direction. It was a common way of writing in stone in Ancient Greece.

Definition of boustrophedon in the English dictionary

The definition of boustrophedon in the dictionary is having alternate lines written from right to left and from left to right.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH BOUSTROPHEDON

acotyledon · Arden · Baden · broaden · burden · cedarn · cordon · cotyledon · dicotyledon · Eden · eudicotyledon · Friedan · garden · Gordon · Jordan · monocotyledon · pardon · polycotyledon · reeden · Sweden

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE BOUSTROPHEDON

bourn · bourne · Bournemouth · bourride · Bourse · boursier · boursin · bourtree · bouse · bousingken · boustrophedonic · bousy · bout · boutade · boutique · boutiquey · bouton · boutonne · boutonniere · bouvardia

WORDS THAT END LIKE BOUSTROPHEDON

abandon · Armageddon · clarendon · Croydon · don · East London · Greater London · Huntingdon · I beg your pardon · Laomedon · London · Macedon · parallelepipedon · Poseidon · primitive dicotyledon · Redon · Sarpedon · Swindon · tendon · Wimbledon

Synonyms and antonyms of boustrophedon in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «boustrophedon» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF BOUSTROPHEDON

Find out the translation of boustrophedon to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of boustrophedon from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «boustrophedon» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

boustrophedon
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

boustrophedon
570 millions of speakers
en

English

boustrophedon
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

boustrophedon
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

البطرفة
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

boustrophedon
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

boustrophedon
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

boustrophedon
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

boustrophedon
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

Boustrophedon
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

boustrophedon
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

犂耕体
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

boustrophedon
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Boustrophedon
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

boustrophedon
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

boustrophedon
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

बोग्रोपॅडेन
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

boustrophedon
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

boustrophedon
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

boustrophedon
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

boustrophedon
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

boustrophedon
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

βουστροφηδόν
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

boustrophedon
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

boustrophedon
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

boustrophedon
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of boustrophedon

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «BOUSTROPHEDON»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of boustrophedon
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «boustrophedon».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about boustrophedon

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «BOUSTROPHEDON»

Discover the use of boustrophedon in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to boustrophedon and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Right Hand, Left Hand: The Origins of Asymmetry in Brains, ...
Boustrophedon. Boustrophedon. nobdriqoiieuoS. nodehportsuoB. Boustrophedon. Boustrophedon. nobsriqoiiauoS. nodehportsuoB. Figure 10.3 True boustrophedon and false boustrophedon. What about the other strategy, of using just the ...
Chris McManus, 2004
2
Principles of Robot Motion: Theory, Algorithms, and ...
Figure 6.9 (left) Trapezoidal decomposition and (right) boustrophedon decomposition for the same space. Each cell, in both decompositions, can be covered with simple back and forth motions. However, note that the coverage path in the ...
Howie M. Choset, 2005
3
The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions: Phonology
The number of Attic boustrophedon texts is fairly small; most of those just cited have been brought down by the experts to a date close to 550 B.C., a date to which several texts of more than one line inscribed left to right may also be assigned ...
Leslie Threatte, 1980
4
Runes and Germanic Linguistics
Gr0nvik (1981: 127-137) is eager to follow Klingenberg in establishing this hiatus on side B. He draws a sharp distinction between true boustrophedon, which has the tops of the runes pointed in the same direction, but with a change in the ...
Elmer H. Antonsen, 2002
5
Visual Activity and Relatedness: A Portrait of Ways the Eye, ...
Figure 2.19: Cadmium Pacific Boustrophedon 110 Figure 2.20: Red Deer (Silver) Saunter Boustrophedon 110 Figure 2.21: Hitch Hiking Bosc Boustrophedon 111 Figure 2.22: Bridging the Broken Boustrophedon 111 Figure 2.23: Olive Tryst ...
S. B. Sowbel, 2008
6
Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization: Being an Official ...
Here is a clear case of boustrophedon, the second line returning in the order Nos . 48-87, as it appears on Seal 101. 3. When the text contains one line and a second incomplete line, the second line runs from left to right, or boustrophedon.
John Marshall, 1996
7
Boustrophedon
Rather than going left-to-right as in modern English, or right-to-left as in Arabic and Hebrew, alternate lines in boustrophedon must be read in opposite directions. Also, the individual characters are reversed, or mirrored.
Jesse Russell, Ronald Cohn, 2012
8
Horos Dios (ΗΟΡΟΣ : ΔΙΟΣ):
B together constitute a boustrophedon text. In 1852 Pittakis gave the texts of A and B separate numbers but wrote, "eiatv autoa zov xponou tou Boi>cn:poc|m86v KaXou(j.evoi)." Hiller von Gaertrin- gen, in IG I2 863, while not using the term ...
Gerald V. Lalonde, 2006
9
Distance and E-learning in Transition: Learning Innovation, ...
Let us take the example of the word “boustrophedon” and search for pertinent documents with the Google search engine. Boustrophedon is the name for an ancient way of writing one line from left to right as in European writing and the second ...
András Szücs, Alan Tait, Martine Vidal, 2013
10
Boustrophedon
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.
Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, McBrewster John, 2010

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «BOUSTROPHEDON»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term boustrophedon is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Brahmi scripts dating back to 300 BC found
"These scripts in Boustrophedon style are literally a treasure trove that needs to be studied in deep because it should be older than the scripts ... «Times of India, Feb 15»
2
Tiny Black Sea Island may be Hiding Lost Temple of Apollo
Boustrophedon (writing which flows left to right first line, then right to left next line) inscription from Apollonia, 6th c. B.C. Public Domain. «Ancient Origins, Jan 15»
3
'Dr. Fill' vies for crossword solving supremacy, but still comes up short
“A couple of years ago,” he says, “we had a puzzle [that used] boustrophedon, an ancient form of writing in which words start from left to right, ... «PRI, Sep 14»
4
Who created the first alphabet?
The Greek language was originally written from right to left, but eventually changed to boustrophedon (literally, turning like oxen)—where the ... «History, Aug 14»
5
A shift causes the Monterey Museum of Art to bloom.
This detail of "Double Boustrophedon," a 1981 oil painting by Alan Parker, was a MMA purchase in honor of June Braucht. Posted: Friday, May ... «Monterey County Weekly, May 14»
6
To Patch a Visual Gap, Turn That Text Around
Many ancient Greek inscriptions use a method of writing called boustrophedon, or “ox-turning,” in which every other line of text is inverted. «Scientific American, Feb 14»
7
Write a 3D Soft Engine from Scratch: Part 4
It's also thanks to him that I now know what Boustrophedon is and it has really changed my life since then. :-). To be more serious, we're going ... «SitePoint, Oct 13»
8
The Rise and Fall of the Pilcrow, Part I
And although the zigzag boustrophedon style of writing had long since been replaced with lines running uniformly left to right, a brief, unrelated ... «Slate Magazine, Sep 13»
9
Emotional letters: Artist Barbara Bash shows how forms of writing …
The early Greeks, for instance, wrote in a form called “boustrophedon,” meaning “as the ox plows,” starting from left to right and reversing ... «Woodstock Times, Sep 12»
10
Why The Knotted Language Of DNA Sounds Like Music
... “the” accounts for seven per cent of words, “of” about half that, “and” a third of that, all way down to obscurities like grawlix or boustrophedon. «Gizmodo Australia, Jul 12»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Boustrophedon [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/boustrophedon>. May 2024 ».
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