бухер

Technically reflecting Proto-Slavic *buxyrъ, probably with original meaning bulged, bloated creature. If correct, then derived from бу́хвам (búhvam, “to bulge, to bloat, to tumefy”) +‎ -ер (-er).

Alternatively, modified from dialectal Bulgarian бу́га (búga, “bull”) (of Turkic origin) + -ер (-er) due to the horn-like eye tentacles of snails. Compare the folk epithets ро́глец (róglec), ро́жковец (róžkovec, “gastropod”) from Bulgarian рог (rog, “horn”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈbuxɛr]

бу́хер • (búher) m (diminutive бо́хльо)

1. (dialectal) gastropod

   Synonyms: пи́жек (pížek) (dialectal), пасо́к (pasók) (dialectal), слима́к (slimák) (archaic)

   зъ́мски бу́хер ― zǎ́mski búher ― slug (literally, “serpentine gastropod)”)

   черу́пест бу́хер ― čerúpest búher ― snail (literally, “shelled gastropod)”)

2. (by specification) snail

   Synonym: о́хлюв (óhljuv)

• бу́хир (búhir)
• бу́ер (búer) (colloquial pronunciation, with silent medial -х-)

• о́хльо-бо́хльо (óhljo-bóhljo) (alias for gastropods in children's tales)

• бу́хав (búhav, “swollen, bulged; rippen (for fruits)”)
• бухти́ца (buhtíca, “bindweed”) (dialectal)
• набу́хвател (nabúhvatel, “leaven (for dough)”)
• търбу́х (tǎrbúh, “rumen, belly”) (< *trь- (“tri-”) + *buxъ (“bulge”))

• бухер in Rečnik na bǎlgarskija ezik (Institut za bǎlgarski ezik)
• Georgiev Vl. I., editor (1971) , “бухер, буер”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, page 94
• Gerov, Najden (1895) , “бу́хыръ”, in Rěčnik na blǎgarskyj jazyk [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language] (in Bulgarian), volume 1, Plovdiv: Družestvena pečatnica “Sǎglasie”, page 88