bolt

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɒlt/, /bəʊlt/ (UK); /boʊlt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English bolt (“short, stout arrow with a heavy head”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *bultaz,^[3][2] source also of Old Norse bolti, Dutch bout and German Bolzen,^[3][2] perhaps originally an arrow or missile, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeld-, to knock, strike, as in Lithuanian beldžiu, I knock.^[3][2][5] Hoad calls it of unknown origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A blunt-headed arrow for a crossbow: about 950 in Barnhart, before 1000 in the OED.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Since Middle English the word has been applied to other short metal rods, especially with knobbed ends:^[3] a bundle (1266), a length of cloth (1310),^[2] the part of a door lock (1396, about 1400),^[2][6] and a rod for fastening (1425).^[2] A bolt of canvas is so called for its shape.^[3] From an arrow's flight came a bolt of lightning (the 1530s, 1535) and a bolt from the blue.^[3][6][7] To shoot one's bolt echoes the proverb A fool's bolt is soon shot, from about 1150.^[2][7] The verb, to spring or start suddenly, is from the early 13th century,^[3] to run away, of game or horses, from the 1610s,^[3] to fasten with a bolt from 1580,^[2][3] and to gulp food from 1794.^[3] Breaking away from a political party is an Americanism of 1833,^[2] and the bolt of a breech-loading rifle is from 1859.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 950 – a crossbow bolt.^[2]
• early 13th century – to spring (verb).^[3]
• 1396 – part of a lock.^[2]
• 1535 – a thunderbolt.^[6]
• 1580 – to fasten with a bolt.^[2]
• 1610s – to run away.^[3]
• 1794 – to gulp food.^[3]
• 1833 – to bolt a party.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A bar that slides into a socket to fasten a door or gate.
2. A threaded metal pin with a head, fastened with a nut.
3. A sliding bar in a breech-loading rifle.
4. A flash of lightning.
5. A sudden start or dash, as to escape.
6. A roll of cloth.
7. A short, heavy arrow for a crossbow.

Verb

1. To fasten or lock with a bolt.
2. To start suddenly and run away.
3. To eat food hurriedly; to gulp.
4. To break away from a political party.
5. Of a plant, to flower or seed prematurely.

Adverb

1. Rigidly: bolt upright.

Word family

• bolter
• boltless
• boltlike
• bolt-action
• bolthead
• bolt-hole
• boltrope
• deadbolt

Related words

• thunderbolt
• bolt-upright

Usage notes

Bolt, to sift flour, also spelled boult, is a different word, from Old French bulter, buleter, probably of Germanic origin.^[2][4][5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press