word

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

boustrophedon

PRONUNCIATION:

(boo-struh-FEED-n, -FEE-don) 

MEANING:

noun: A method of writing in which lines are written alternately in opposite direction, from left to right, and right to left. 

ETYMOLOGY:

From boustrophedon, literally ox-turning, referring to the movement of an ox while plowing a field, from bous (ox) and strophe (turning). It's the same strophe that shows up in catastrophe (literally, an overturning) and apostrophe (literally, turning away, referring to the omission of a letter). 

NOTES:

In such writing, each letter on the alternate lines was written as in a mirror image or rotated 180 degrees. We still do many things boustrophedonically, such as mowing the lawn, vacuuming the floor, etc. In many computer printers, such as dot-matrix and inkjet, the print head usually moves in the boustrophedon mode (though thankfully doesn't print letters mirrored or rotated).