n. [Hel. bû = domicilium; O. H. G. bû; mod. Germ. bau = tillage, cultivation; Hel. also uses beo or beu, = seges, cp. also Teut. bouwt = messis, in Schmeller Heliand Glossary:—the root of this word will be traced more closely under the radical form búa; here it is sufficient to remark that ‘bú’ is an apocopate form, qs. ‘bug’ or ‘bugg;’ the root remains unaltered in the branch to which Icel. bygg, byggja, and other words belong]

1. a house; bú and bæ (býr) are twins from the same root (bua); bær is the house, bú the household; the Gr. οικος (Ϝοικος) embraces both; þeir eta upp bú mitt, Od. i. 251; biðla til móður minnar og eyða búi hennar, 248; bú mitt er á förum, iv. 318; gott bú, ix. 35; etr þú upp bú hans bótalaust, xvi. 431; svo hann er fær uni að veita búinu forstöðu, xix. 161; hús og bújörð, og góðan kvennkost, xiv. 64; the Prose Translation by Egilsson. In the Northern countries ‘bú’ implies the notion of living upon the produce of the earth; in Norway and esp. in Icel. that of living on the ‘milk’ (málnyta) of kine, ewes, or she-goats; þat er bú, er maðr hefir málnytan smala, it is ‘bú’ if a man has a milking stock, Grág. i. 158; the old Hm. says, a ‘bú,’ however small it be, is better to have than not to have; and then explains, ‘though thou hast but two she-goats and a cottage thatched with shingle, yet it is better than begging;’ Icel. saying, sveltr sauðlaust bú, i. e. a sheepless household starves: ‘bú’ also means the stores and stock of a household; göra, setja, reisa bú, to set up in life, have one’s own hearth, Bs. i. 127, Bb. 1. 219, Sturl. i. 197, Eb. 40; bregða búi, to give up farming or household; taka við búi, to take to a farm, Sturl. i. 198; eiga bú við e-n, to share a household with one, 200; ráðask til bús, id.; fara búi, to remove one’s household, flit, 225; hafa bú, hafa rausnar-bú, 226; eiga bú, iii. 79, Eg. 137: allit. phrases, börn og bú, Bs. ii. 498; bóndi er bú-stólpi, bú er landstólpi, the ‘bóndi’ is the stay of the ‘bú,’ the ‘bú’ is the stay of the land; búa búi sínu, Fas. iii. 312; búa umegðar-búi, to have a heavy household (many children), K. Þ. K. 90; hafa kýr ok ær á búi, Nj. 236: housekeeping, in the phrase, eiga einkis í bú at biðja, to have plenty of everything, Bs. i. 131, 132; bæði þarf í búit mjöl ok skreið, Nj. 18: home, house, reið Hrútr heim til bús síns, 4; á búi, adv. at home, Fms. iv. 256, Hm. 82.

2. estates; konungs-bú, royal demesnes; þar er bú hans vóru, Eg. 42, 43, Landn. 124, fara milli búa sinna, to go from one estate to another, id.; eiga bú, to own an estate.

3. the stock in a farmstead; sumir lágu úti á fjöllum með bú sín, Sturl. iii. 75; drepa niðr bú, höggva bú, taka upp bú, to kill or destroy one’s stock, Fms. ix. 473, Stj. 90.

COMPDS: búsafleifar, búsbúhlutir, búsefni, búsfar, búsforráð, búsgagn, búshagr, búshlutir, búshægindi, búskerfi, bústilskipan, búsumsvif, búsumsýsla.