bustrofédon

Portuguese

Etymology

PIE word
*gʷṓws

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek βουστροφηδόν (boustrophēdón, “boustrophedon”, literally “a turning like an ox”), from βοῦς (boûs, “ox”) + στροφή (strophḗ, “turn”), because the direction of writing is like that of an ox when turning while plowing.

Pronunciation

 
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /buʃ.tɾuˈfɛ.dɔn/ [buʃ.tɾuˈfɛ.ðɔn]

  • Hyphenation: bus‧tro‧fé‧don

Noun

bustrofédon m (plural (Brazil) bustrofédons or (Portugal) bustrofédones)

  1. (epigraphy) boustrophedon (text written such that its direction alternates on each line, resulting in a continuous stream of characters spanning multiple lines; frequently also involving the corresponding alternation of letter directionality using mirrored letters, indicating the direction of the text at any given point)

Derived terms

Further reading

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