The exact zoological identification is uncertain. The early forms bög and böy refer to a venomous spider-like animal; later members of the same word family denote tarantulas or wolf spiders in some Turkic languages, solifuges in others, and more generally spiders in still others. “Tarantula” is therefore a useful traditional gloss, not a secure species identification.
Kāšġarī calls bög the more correct form beside böy, but Erdal interprets this statement as a case of hypercorrection connected with the weakening of g to a glide. The original consonantism is consequently not entirely straightforward. The long ö, however, is supported by the early length notation and comparative evidence.
This word is distinct from the homonymous bög, a technical term used in the game of knucklebones.