or rather Bosporus, the name given by the Greeks to any straits. Bosporus is synonymous with the Italian faro, the Latin fretum, and the French pas or manche. The word is formed of boës, an ox, and ἀπός, passage, probably from the idea that an ox might swim across. The origin of the name is not disputed; but various mythological legends were invented to account for its first application; as that of its having derived its name from Io, who crossed it under the form of a heifer. The name of Bosporus is chiefly confined to two straits, namely, the Bosporus of Thrace, commonly called the Strait of Constantinople, or Channel of the Black Sea; and the Cimmerian or Scythian Bosporus, now known as the Strait of Yenikale. See BLACK SEA.