Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An ancient method of writing in which the lines are inscribed alternately from right to left and from left to right.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A method of writing shown in early Greek inscriptions, in which the lines run alternately from right to left and from left to right, as the furrows made in plowing a field, the plow passing alternately backward and forward.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An ancient mode of writing, in alternate directions, one line from left to right, and the next from right to left (as fields are plowed), as in early Greek and Hittite.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb of writing, in a fashion such that the reading direction changes from right-to-left to left-to-right every line.
- adjective written from right-to-left and left-to-right on alternate lines
- adjective figuratively changing direction, going back and forth
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an ancient writing system: having alternate lines written in opposite directions; literally `as the ox ploughs'
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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[or rather, down, up, down: the form of writing known as boustrophedon, that is, the way an ox turns in a furrow].
Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature Richard Green Moulton 1886
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There's also the matter of the winding boustrophedon path of the pawns along the three rows of the board at least, according to Timothy Kendall's rules.
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
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This winding path is yet again an otherworldly symbolism and is related to the reason why ancient inscriptions in Etruria and in the Aegean area were sometimes written in a boustrophedon or spiral pattern.
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
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This winding path is yet again an otherworldly symbolism and is related to the reason why ancient inscriptions in Etruria and in the Aegean area were sometimes written in a boustrophedon or spiral pattern.
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There's also the matter of the winding boustrophedon path of the pawns along the three rows of the board at least, according to Timothy Kendall's rules.
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It was written on ostrich skin in the boustrophedon style, in which one line was read from left to right and the next from right to left and so on.
Deeper Jeff Long 2007
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Whereas, false boustrophedon, alternate lines instead of having vertical orientation will curl around upside down, this also being called Schlangenschrift which means snake-writing.
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It was written on ostrich skin in the boustrophedon style, in which one line was read from left to right and the next from right to left and so on.
Deeper Jeff Long 2007
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Or consider the Etruscan habit of writing in "boustrophedon style."
Archive 2006-02-01 Teena in Toronto 2006
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Greek alphabet, written from right to left, or in boustrophedon.
en_dash commented on the word boustrophedon
from 'as the plow follows the ox'
December 10, 2006
vanishedone commented on the word boustrophedon
To read regular boustrophedon texts, you alternate between reading lines left-to-right and right-to-left. Reverse boustrophedon texts need to be inverted 180° after each line.
October 21, 2007
uselessness commented on the word boustrophedon
I'm sure to the trained reader this sort
esuaceb ,tneiciffe ylbirret si gnitirw fo
it reduces the work of the eye by 50%.
redner ot lacitcarpmi rehtar si ti ,llitS
since most computer software doesn't
eb tsum txet dna noisrevni enil troppus
flipped manually. And since the format is
tnemngila ,epyt deifitsuj rof detius-tseb
also becomes an issue. Not to mention the
eurT .gniht sdrawkcab gnidaer elohw
boustrophedon may not even be possible with
sretcarahc derorrim sa ygolonhcet tnerruc
are not supported for the entire alphabet
.dradnats edocinU eht ni
October 22, 2007
seanahan commented on the word boustrophedon
Actually, when I read I move my neck after each line, so the work is saved on the neck. Furthermore, it is probably bad to have the neck in place for a long time, so moving it periodically could be healthy!
October 23, 2007
ofravens commented on the word boustrophedon
Sounds like a name for a newly-discovered species of dinosaur.
May 16, 2008
jmjarmstrong commented on the word boustrophedon
JM thoroughly enjoys the idea of boustrophedon.
!ti esu ot seitinutroppo erom erew ereht sehsiw MJ
July 12, 2009
ruzuzu commented on the word boustrophedon
I like weirdnet's "'as the ox ploughs.'" Wouldn't that be a terrific soap opera?
January 4, 2017