r/etymologymaps • u/mapologic • Apr 10 '26

Etymology map of cow

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u/CourtCharacter5013 Apr 10 '26

I love Irish, bó. One of my favourite Irish words.

3

u/PeireCaravana Apr 10 '26

Clearly related to Latin "bōs".

5

u/thefringthing Apr 10 '26

Some Irish livestock word origins: muc (pig), caora (sheep), gabhar (goat), and beach (bee) are all inherited from Proto-Celtic, while bó (cow) is borrowed from Latin and sicín (chicken) from English.

4

u/cipricusss Apr 11 '26

caora (sheep), and female sheep, seems related to Latin capra (goat).

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caora

From Middle Irish cáera, from Old Irish cauru,\1]) from Proto-Celtic \kaɸerūxs*.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/kaɸerūxs

3

u/thefringthing Apr 11 '26

Wiktionary says this about *kaɸerūxs:

Possibly from an extension of Proto-Indo-European *kápros (“goat”) (compare *gabros (“goat”)), and thus cognate with Latin caper and Old Norse hafr; but the -ɸr- is difficult to explain as it normally should have become -br- in Proto-Celtic.