a. and sb. Also 6 bucolique, bucolik, 7 -ike, -icke, 8 -ick. [ad. L. būcolic-us, a. Gr. βουκολικ-ός, f. βουκόλος herdsman.]
A. adj. 1. Of or pertaining to herdsmen or shepherds; pastoral.
1613. R. C., Table Alph. (ed. 3), Bucolike, pertaining to beasts or heardsmen.
1750. Johnson, Rambl., No. 37, ¶ 10. The Pollio of Virgil … is a composition truly bucolick.
1803. Syd. Smith, Wks. (1867), I. 50. He goes on, mingling bucolic details and sentimental effusions.
1863. Mary Howitt, trans. F. Bremer’s Greece, II. xvii. 167. The shepherds and shepherdesses … milk the cattle, and compose bucolic poems.
1873. Symonds, Grk. Poets, x. 308. Bucolic poetry.
2. Pertaining to country life; rural, rustic, countryfied. (Somewhat humorous.)
1846. Lytton, Lucretia (1853), 247. The second [partner] had a bucolic turn.
1859. Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, 67. The keenest of bucolic minds felt a whispering awe at the sight of the gentry.
1875. A. R. Hope, Schoolboy Fr., 308. A sturdy-looking bucolic individual.
1878. Lady Herbert, trans. Hübner’s Ramble, II. xii. 212. In its happy, bucolic isolation.
B. sb. [cf. L. Būcolica, Gr. βουκολικά in same use.]
1. pl. Pastoral poems: rarely sing. a single poem.
1531. Elyot, Gov., I. x. (1883), I. 62. What thinge can be more familiar than his [Virgil’s] bucolikes.
a. 1560. Rolland, Crt. Venus, III. 103. His Georgiks and Bucolikis.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Bucolicks, pastoral songs, or songs of Heardsmen.
1870. Daily News, 16 April, 6/5. The manufacture of maple sugar, of which I may sing you a bucolic when the sugar season arrives.
2. = Bucolic poet.
1774. T. Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, xxxix. III. 59. Spenser, who is erroneously ranked as our earliest English bucolic.
3. A rustic, peasant. (humorous.)
1862. Sat. Rev., No. 351. 72/1. It is a satisfaction to make the personal acquaintance of so worthy a bucolic.
4. pl. Agricultural pursuits. rare.
1865. Times, 15 April, 11/1. A fancy farm steading is designed for any special branch of bucolics that may most delight the proprietor.
