English

Alternative forms

• bunyon
• bunian, bunnion, bunnian (obsolete)

Noun

bunion ‎(plural bunions)

1. (pathology) A bump or bulge on the first joint of the big toe caused by the swelling of a sac of fluid under the skin.
2. (colloquial, by extension) hallux valgus, deviation of the big toe from its normal position towards the other toes, the prime cause for the swelling of its first joint.

Translations

Latin

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek βούνῐον ‎(boúnion).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈbuː.ni.on/, [ˈbuː.ni.õ]

Noun

būnion n ‎(genitive būniī or būnī); second declension

1. a type of turnip
   • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 20.11

     Nāpōrum duās differentiās et in medicīnā Graecī servant. angulōsīs foliōrum caulibus, flōre anētī, quod būnion vocant, pūrgātiōnibus fēminārum et vēsīcae et ūrīnae ūtile dēcoctum, pōtum ex aquā mulsā vel sūcī drachmā; sēmen dysintericīs tostum trītumque in aquae calidae cyathīs quattuor. sed ūrīnam inhibet, sī nōn līnī sēmen ūna bibātur.

     The Greeks also preserve two distinct types of turnip in medicine. Having angular leafstalks (and) a flower (like that) of dill, (the turnip) they call the “bunion” (is) useful boiled (and) drunk in mead or in a drachma of juice for women's purgings and for the bladder and for the urine; the seed, toasted and ground, in four ladlesful of warm water, (is useful) for people with dysentery. It prevents urination, however, if one (drachma) of linseed is not drunk.

2. (perhaps) earthnut, Bunium ferulaceum

Declension

Second declension, Greek type.

Related terms

• būnias
• būnītus

Descendants

• Translingual: Bunium

References

• būnĭon in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “būnĭŏn”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 231/3.
• “būnion” on page 245/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)