bull

noun

/bʊl/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Germanic *bulô Old English bula ▲ Proto-Germanic *bulô Old Norse bolibor. Middle English bole English bull From Middle English bole, bul, bule, from a conflation of Old English bula (“bull, steer”) and Old Norse boli, both from Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”). Cognate with West Frisian bolle, Dutch bul, German Low German Bull, German Bulle, Swedish bulla; also Old Irish ball (“limb”), Latin follis (“bellows, leather bag”), Albanian bolle (“testicles”), Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”). Of sense 11, (a man or boy), derived from the Philadelphia English pronunciation of boy, which is practically a homophone of bull.

derived from *bʰl̥no-✻
inherited from *bulô✻
derived from boli
derived from bula
inherited from bole,bul,bule

Definitions

An adult male, specifically
An adult male, specifically:
A person, compared to the animal.
3
A crown coin
A crown coin; its value, 5 shillings.
- Half-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull, half a tusheroon, and a madza caroon; whilst a crown piece, or five shillings, may be called either a bull, or a caroon, or a cartwheel, or a coachwheel, or a thick-un, or a tusheroon.
›+ 23 more definitionsshow fewer
1. Clipping of bullseye.
2. Clipping of bullshit.
3. A drink made by pouring water into a cask that previously held liquor.
4. Large and strong, like a bull.
5. 8
  Of large mammals, adult male.
  - a bull elephant
  - With the low, guttural snarl of the bull ape he sprang for the Frenchman.
6. 9
  Characterized by rising prices or belief that prices will rise.
  - a bull market
7. Stupid.
8. 11
  To force oneself (in a particular direction)
  To force oneself (in a particular direction); to move aggressively.
  - He bulled his way in.
9. To be in heat
  To be in heat; to be ready for mating with a bull.
10. To mate with (a cow or heifer).
11. 14
  To endeavour to raise the market price of.
  - to bull railroad bonds
12. 15
  To endeavour to raise prices in.
  - to bull the market
13. A papal bull, an official document or edict from the Pope.
14. A seal affixed to a document, especially a document from the Pope.
15. To publish in a papal bull.
16. A lie.
17. Nonsense.
18. To mock
  To mock; to cheat.
19. To lie, to tell untruths.
20. 23
  To polish (boots) to a high shine.
  - We were to repeat our normal practise of me bulling his boots and him ironing my kit.
21. A bubble.
22. 25
  The constellation and zodiacal sign Taurus.
  - The Bull reigneth in the neck, & in the throat.
  - Those stars said to belong to the Ram might as well be supposed to belong to the Bull or the Lion.
  - An early Grecian gem shows three nude figures, hand in hand, standing on the head of the Bull, one pointing to seven stars in line over the back, which Landseer referred to the Hyades.
23. A surname transferred from the nickname derived from the name of the animal.

The neighborhood

Derived

bull session, cock and bull

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bull. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA