bóín Dé

Irish

bóín Dé

Etymology

From bó (“cow”) +‎ -ín (diminutive suffix) + Dé (“of God”): literally “God's little cow”. Compare Russian бо́жья коро́вка (bóžʹja koróvka), Polish boża krówka, Dutch lieveheersbeestje.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbˠoːiːnʲ ˈdʲeː]

Noun

bóín Dé m (genitive singular bóín Dé, nominative plural bóíní Dé)

1. ladybug, ladybird (beetle)

   Synonym: bóín samhraidh

Mutation

Mutated forms of bóín Dé

radical	lenition	eclipsis
bóín Dé	bhóín Dé	mbóín Dé

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bóín Dé”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “bóín Dé”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “bóín Dé”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024