buxom

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   plump, full-figured, and healthy-looking, especially of a woman

   A buxom landlady greeted them at the inn door.

Simplified etymology

Buxom comes from the root of bow, originally “bend” or “incline the head or body.” It first meant “obedient” or “compliant,” then shifted through “obliging” and “amiable” to “cheerful, lively, and healthy”; association between health and plumpness produced its late-19th-century sense “plump” or “large-breasted.”

From Middle English buxsum ('obedient, pliant'), from Old English buhsum, from bugan ('to bend, bow') + -sum (-some). The meaning shifted from 'compliant' to 'lively, healthy' to 'plump and full-bosomed'.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary