بو

From Proto-Turkic *bu (“this”). Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰉𐰆 (bu, “this”), Turkish bu (“this”).

بو (bū)

1. this

• مُنْدا (mundā, “here”)

بو (bū)

1. this

From Proto-Turkic *būg (“steam”). Cognate with Turkish buğu (“steam”).

بو (bū)

1. steam

بوْ (bô) (definite accusative موُنؽ, plural بوُللار)

1. Arabic spelling of bô (“this”)

From Sanskrit बहु (bahu), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰn̥ǵʰús. Cognate with Kalasha bo.

بو (bo)

1. much, very

• Elena Bashir; Maula Nigah; Rahmat Karim Baig (2022), “بو”, in A digital Khowar-English dictionary with audio‎^[1], second edition, Chicago, I.L.: South Asia Language and Area Center, University of Chicago, archived from the original on 19 January 2023.

From Arabic أَبُو (ʔabū).

بو (bū)

1. A relativizer, used to introduce a relative clause after a determinate noun

• Nöldeke, Theodor (1895), “Über einen arabischen Dialect”, in Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes‎^[2] (in German), volume 9, pages 10–11
• Reinhardt, Carl (1894), Ein arabischer Dialekt gesprochen in ʿOmān und Zanzibar, nach praktischen Gesichtspunkten für das Seminar für Orientalische Sprachen in Berlin (Lehrbücher des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen in Berlin; XIII)‎^[3] (in German), Stuttgart & Berlin: W. Spemann, →DOI, pages 284–285

From Proto-Turkic *bū (“this”).

بو • (bu)

1. (demonstrative) this
   • 1521, Piri Reis, کتاب بحریه [Kitab-ı Bahriye, Book of the Sea]‎^[4]:

     دَرْبَیَانِ سَبَبِ تَالِیفِ كِتَابْ
     وَسَبَبِ تَالِیفِ كِتَابْ بُودُرْكِیمْ حَضِرَتِ پَاشَاهِ عَالَمْ پَنَاهُكْ آسِتَانَهِٔ دَوْلَتْ آشِیَانِنَه وَدَرِ سَعَادَتْ بِخْشِنَه طَوَایِفِ دَهْرِ كَامِللَرٖی اَنْوَاعِ فُنُونْدَنْ تُحْفَه‌لَرْ كَتُورْمِشْلَرْدُرْكِمْ دَوْلَتْلُو خُدَاوَنْدِكَارِك هِمَّتِ بٖی‌هَمْتَاسٖیلَه عَالَمْدَه وُجُودْ بُولُوبْ نَامِ نِشَانْ صَاحِبْلَرٖی اُولَه‌لَرْ

     der beyan-ı sebeb-i teʼlif-i kitab
     ve-sebeb-i teʼlif-i kitab budurkim hazireti paşah-i ʼalem penahuñ asitane-i devlet aşiyanına ve-der-i saʼadet bahşine tavayif-i dehr-i kâmilleri envaʼ-ı fünundan tuhfeler getürmişlerdürkim devletlü hudavendigârıñ himmet-i bi-hemtasıyla ʼalemde vücud bulub nam-ı nişan sahibleri olalar.

     the reason of the composition of the book
     the reason of the composition of this book is thus: the most perfect people of the world brought gifts of various sciences to the heavenly state city of the world's sultan and to its gate of happiness, so that with the grace and favor of the sultan, their names were made eternal in the world.

• Turkish: bu

• اول (ol)
• شو (şu)

بو • (bö)

1. alternative form of بوی (böy)

From Middle Persian [Term?], from Proto-Iranian *bawd- (“to smell”), which is perhaps a semantic specialization of Proto-Iranian *bawd- (“to feel, sense”), the latter from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, perceive fully”). Akin to Old Armenian բոյր (boyr), an Iranian borrowing.

• Rhymes: -uː

بو • (bu) (plural بوها)

1. smell, scent

   آی گل ریحون چنین بویی نداره یار گلم

   ây gol-e reyhun čenin bu-yi nadâre yâr golom

   Ah, even the basil flower doesn't smell like this, my dear friend.

• بوی (buy)

• بو کردن (bu kardan)
• بوییدن (buyidan)

• → Bengali: বু (bu)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: बू (bū)

  Urdu: بو (bū)

• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਬੂ (bū)

  Shahmukhi script: بو (bū)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Seems like a "papa"-type word.”)

بو • (bow)

1. (dialectal, Kazerun) father, dad, daddy
2. (dialectal, Kazerun) grandfather

• Cheung, Johnny (2007), Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 14-6

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): [bõ]

بو (bo)

1. mosquito

• Lamuwal, Abd-El-Malek; Baker, Adam (2013), “Southeastern Pashayi”, in Journal of the International Phonetic Association‎^[5], volume 43, Cambridge: International Phonetic Association, →DOI, pages 243–246

From Classical Persian بو (bō, “smell, odor”).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /buː/, /boː/

بو • (bū or bo) ? (Hindi spelling बू)

1. smell, odor, scent
2. stink, stench

• بو دار (bū-dār)
• خوشبو (xušbū)
  • خوشبودار (xušbūdār)
• بد بو (bad-bū)
  • بد بودار (bad-būdār)

• “بو”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “بو”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884), “بو”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• “بو”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.