# buxom

Pronunciation: say "BUK-suhm" /ˈbʌksəm/

## Adjective

1. Of a woman, having a full, voluptuous figure, especially one with large breasts.
   - Simple: Used about a woman with a full, curvy body, especially one with large breasts.
   - _The costume designer let out the bodice for the buxom actress playing the innkeeper's wife._
   - _She had been buxom since high school and was tired of blouses that gaped between the buttons._

## Adjective

2. Full of health and vigor, and of a cheerful, good-natured temper. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Healthy, full of energy, and happy and easy to get along with.
3. Yielding rather than resisting; flexible in body or obedient in mind. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old meaning: easy to bend or easy to lead, giving way instead of resisting.

## Origin

The word goes back to Proto-West Germanic *beuhsam, *beugsam, which gave bōcsum, *būhsum, *ġebūhsum in Old English ("pliant, obedient") and then Middle English buxom (also ibucsum, ibuhsum), meaning "flexible, pliant, obedient." It can be seen as bow ("to bend") plus -some, or as buck ("to bend, buckle") plus -some. Scots bowsome ("compliant") is related, as are West Frisian bûgsum, Dutch buigzaam, and German biegsam, which all mean "flexible."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/buxom (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).