bucolic
adjective
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The Origin of Bucolic Is "Utterly" Quaint
We get bucolic from the Latin word bucolicus, which is ultimately from the Greek word boukolos, meaning "cowherd." When bucolic was first used in English as an adjective in the early 17th century, it meant "pastoral" in a narrow sense—that is, it referred to things related to shepherds or herdsmen and in particular to pastoral poetry. Later in the 19th century, it was applied more broadly to things rural or rustic. Bucolic has also been occasionally used as a noun meaning "a pastoral poem" or "a bucolic person."
Examples of bucolic in a Sentence
Ian Frazier, On the Rez, 2000
… the massive population growth has transformed a collection of bucolic villages and mill towns into a chain of strip-mall suburbs.
—Jonathan Cohn, New Republic, 7 Feb. 2000
… Intel gives its generations of microprocessors such bucolic code names as Deschutes, Tillamook, and Katmai but then rolls them out with names that rival those of popes and medieval heads of state: Pentium the III, Celeron the Meek, and Xeon the Magnificent.
—Jake Kirchner, PC Magazine, 25 May 1999
… the North Shore commuter train scuds through bucolic landscape for a while, the rocks and trees permitting glimpses of Appleton Farms …
—John Updike, New England Monthly, October 1989
a bucolic region where farms are still common
Matthew Carey, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2025
The sound of water tumbling over an 18th-century mill wheel only adds to the bucolic allure of a 2,000-plus-acre horse farm in New York‘s scenic Hudson Valley that just hit the market for an eye-popping $90 million.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 20 Oct. 2025
In addition to its prime, bucolic location in the Green Mountains, Putney is perhaps best known for its schools, including Landmark College and the boarding schools, Putney School and Greenwood School.
—Megan Margulies, Travel + Leisure, 11 Oct. 2025
Established over a thousand years ago with ancient churches and palaces, Radicondoli is a bucolic village with a history of wool working and a long tradition of producing olive oil.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bucolic
Cite this Entry
“Bucolic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bucolic. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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bucolic
adjective
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