bokbaard, noun

Forms:
Also bokbaart, and with initial capital.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans (from Dutch boksbaard, bokkebaard), bok goat + baard beard.
1. Any of several unrelated species of plant with flowers or flowering parts resembling the beard of a goat, especially the grass Festuca caprina of the Poaceae (sub-family Pooideae). Also attributive.
1896 Agric. Jrnl of Cape of G.H. in C.A. Smith Common Names (1966) 154An argument with a farmer about bokbaard grass.
1898 Agric. Jrnl of Cape of G.H. in C.A. Smith Common Names (1966) Known by the local name of Bokbaard..[it] seems to be essential to sheep farming.
1908 Report S.A.A.A. Science 209Festuca caprina, Nees, locally known as ‘bok-baard’ a grass remaining green through the severe winter, yields excellent herbage on the mountain slopes.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 14Bokbaard, Festuca caprina (grass).
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 153Bokbaard, Several unrelated plants, including some grasses go by this name because of some suggestion of the beard (Afr.: baard) of the goat, conveyed by some structure of the inflorescence.
[1991 G.E. Gibbs Russell et al. Grasses of Sn Afr. 169Festuca caprina Bokbaardgras.]
2. colloquial. A goatee or tufted beard; bokbaardjie. Also attributive.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 75Bokbaard,..A chin beard like that of a goat.
[1958 I. Vaughan Diary 20They call him Jonny Bok becos he has a beard like a goat.]
1973 K. Taylor on Radio South Africa 6 JuneHere’s what Shakespeare said — Shakespeare, the bokbaard of Stratford-on-Avon.
1978 P. Strauss in Contrast 46 Vol.12 No.2, 6They’re absorbed in the visit Of Mistah Pan the wood-god, Squatting on goat-legs...Nodding his bokbaard wise-sheep face, A male without troubles.
1982 C. Hope Private Parts 45A bokbaard tapering to an exquisite point adorned his chin.
Any of several unrelated species of plant with flowers or flowering parts resembling the beard of a goat, especially the grass Festuca caprina of the Poaceae (sub-family Pooideae). Also attributive.
A goatee or tufted beard; bokbaardjie. Also attributive.
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18961991