▪ I. bouk Now only Sc. and dial.
Forms: 1–3 b{uacu}c, 2–4 buke, 3–4 book, 3–6 bouke, 5 bowke, 6 buike, 7 buick, 8–9 buik, 4– bouk.
[OE. b{uacu}c belly = OS. bûc, Du. buik, OHG. bûh, bûch, MHG. bûch, mod.G. bauch belly, ON. bûk-r trunk of the body:—OTeut. *bûko-z. The prevailing sense in ME. is the same as in ON., from which it may have been taken. As early as 15th c. this word was confounded with bulk n., which afterwards usurped most of its senses, and has superseded it in literary use. The modern dial. and Sc. bouk seems to be partly a survival of ME. bouk, partly the regular descendant of ME. bolk, bulk.]
† 1. The belly, paunch, or abdomen. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. (1846) II. 270 Þat husel is..betwux toðum tocowen, and into þam buce asend. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 25 Þe heo wulle underfon..cristes licome in his sunfulle buke. 1486 Bk. St. Albans B vij b, Whan yowre hawke hath wormys in hir bowke. |
2. The trunk of the body; hence the body of a man or animal. After 14th c. only Sc. and dial.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 134 Þe hwule þet mi soule is in mine buke. a 1225 Juliana 70 Er þe bodi wið þe buc beo isundret from hire heauet. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 174 A bouke of a motoun. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 7189 That the heued fleighe fram the bouk. 1513 Douglas æneis i. ix. 100 Ane hundreth busteous bowkis of swyne. 1591 R. Bruce 11 Serm. X ij b, They cary their heartes out of their buikes as it were. 1794 Burns Batt. Sheriff-muir ii, They rush'd and push'd..And monie a bouk did fa', man. 1832–53 Whistle-Binkie (Sc. Songs) Ser. i. 85 Mony a bonny buik lay cauld. |
† b. transf. Applied to the body or interior of a church. Obs. (Cf. bulk.)
| c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 340 A lowe in to þe bouke of þe chirche was send. 1499 Will of Bannfeld (Somerset Ho.), To be buried in the bouke of the Church. |
3. = bulk in its modern senses: Magnitude in three dimensions, volume; largeness of volume, bulkiness; the greater portion of anything. Only mod. Sc. and dial.
| 1697 Cleland Poems 78 (Jam) Though old Colquhoun should bear the buick o't. 1805 J. Nicol Poems II. 3 (Jam.) The blades, accordin to their bouk He partit into bands. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 148 I'll weigh't against its ain bouk, lead only excepted, o' ony ither material noo extant. 1855 Whitby Gloss., Bouk (pron. Book), bulk, size, substance. |
▪ II. bouk
dial. f. bolk v. Obs. to belch; and bowk, a pail.
▪ III. bouk(e
obs. and Sc. form of buck.