or boza, subs. phr. (old).—A courtesan; a showy prostitute. [Ital. buona, good, + ROBA = a robe or dress.] The term was much in use among the older dramatists. Ben Jonson speaks of a bouncing BONA-ROBA; and Cowley seems to have considered it as implying a fine, tall figure. BONA (modern) = a girl or young woman, without reference to morals.
1607. G. WILKINS, The Miseries of Enforced Marriage, iv. [DODSLEY, Old Plays (REED) v. 65]. Butler. Wenches, BONA ROBAS, blessed beauties, without colour or counterfeit.
1598. SHAKESPEARE, 2 Henry IV., iii. 2. We knew where the BONA-ROBAS were; and had the best of them all at commandment.
1598. SHAKESPEARE, 2 Henry IV., iii. 2. Shallow. And is Jane Nightwork alive?… She was a BONA-ROBA … certain she’s old, and had Robin Nightwork by old Nightwork before I came to Clement’s Inn.
d. 1667. A. COWLEY, Essay on Greatness. I would neither wish that my Mistress, nor my Fortune, should be a BONA ROBA,… but as Lucretius says,
| Parvula, pumilio, χαρίτων μία tota merum sal. |
1822. SCOTT, The Fortunes of Nigel, xvi. Your lordship is for a frolic into Alsatia?… there are BONA-ROBAS to be found there.
1839. W. H. AINSWORTH, Jack Sheppard [1888], 69. The other BONA-ROBA, known amongst her companions as Mistress Poll Maggot, was a beauty on a much larger scale—in fact, a perfect Amazon.
c. 18[?]. Broadside Ballad,
| Oh, Fred, don’t be so frivolous. | |
| Girls are in vulgar called donas. | |
| Some are called Miss and some Mrs. | |
| The best of them all are called BONAS. |
1611. COTGRAVE, Dictionarie, s.v. Robbe.
16[?]. TARLETON, Jests, s.v.
c. 1650. BRATHWAITE, Drunken Barnaby’s Journal. (1723). 93.
| Once a BONA-ROBA, trust me, | |
| Though now buttock-shrunk and rusty. |
1809. MALKIN, Gil Blas [ROUTLEDGE], 72. As eccentric as any BONA-ROBA of the Green-room.
