بو

See also: تو, پو, بۄ, بۇ, and Appendix:Variations of "bu"

Karakhanid

Etymology 1

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

Pronoun

بو (bū)

1. this

Related terms

• مُنْدا (mundā, “here”)

Determiner

بو (bū)

1. this

Etymology 2

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

Noun

بو (bū)

1. steam

Khalaj

Pronoun

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

1. Arabic spelling of bô (“this”)

Khowar

Etymology

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

Adjective

بو (bo)

1. much, very

References

• 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 2023-01-19.

Omani Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic أَبُو (ʔabū).

Conjunction

بو (bū)

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

References

• 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, pages 284–285

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bū (“this”).

Pronoun

بو • (bu)

1. (demonstrative) this

Declension

Declension of بو

	singular	plural
nominative	بو (bu)	بونلر (bunlar)
genitive	بونڭ (bunuñ)	بونلرڭ (bunlarıñ)
dative	بوڭا (buña)	بونلره (bunlara)
definite accusative	بونی (bunı)	بونلری (bunları)
locative	بونده (bunda)	بونلرده (bunlarda)
ablative	بوندن (bundan)	بونلردن (bunlardan)

Descendants

• Turkish: bu

See also

• اول (ol)
• شو (şu)

Noun

بو • (bö)

1. Alternative form of بوی (böy)

Persian

Etymology 1

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.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [boː], [buː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [boː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [boː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [boː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [bʊː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [buː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [bɵ]

Readings
Classical reading?	bō, bū
Dari reading?	bō
Iranian reading?	bu
Tajik reading?	bü

Noun

Dari	بو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	бӯ

بو • (bu) (plural بوها (bu-hâ))

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.

Inflection

Basic forms of بو

	singular	plural
bare	بو (bú)	بوها، بوا△ (bu-hấ, buấ△)
definitive direct object	بو را، بو رو△ (bú râ, bú ro△)	بوها را، بوا رو△ (bu-hấ râ, buấ ro△)
ezâfe	بوی (bú-ye)	بوهای، بوای△ (bu-hấ-ye, buấ-ye△)
marked indefinite or relative definite	بویی (búi)	بوهایی، بوایی△ (bu-hấ-i, buấ-i△)

^△ Colloquial.

Alternative forms

• بوی (buy)

Related terms

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

Descendants

• → Bengali: বু (bu)
• → Urdu: بو (bū)

Etymology 2

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

Noun

بو • (bow)

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

References

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

Southeast Pashayi

Etymology

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

Noun

بو (bõ)

1. mosquito

Further reading

• Abd-El-Malek Lamuwal, Adam Baker (2013) “Southeastern Pashayi”, in Journal of the International Phonetic Association, volume 43, Cambridge: International Phonetic Association, pages 243-246

Urdu

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

بو • (bū or bo) ?

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

Hyponyms

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

References

• “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, 2025.