bore

English has three words spelled bore: to drill, from Old English; a tidal wave, probably from Old Norse; and to weary, of unknown origin.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /bɔː/, US /bɔːr/^[3]

bore¹ drill

Etymology

To drill is inherited from Middle English boren, inherited from Old English borian (“to bore through, perforate”),^[4][5][2] from bor (“auger”),^[5] from Proto-Germanic *burōn,^[4] cognate with Old High German borōn (modern German bohren) and Old Norse bora,^[4][5][2][6] and related through Proto-Indo-European *bher- (“to cut”) to Latin forō (“to bore”) and feriō (“to strike”).^[4][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb: about 1000;^[4] the noun, an auger, is Old English bor, from before 800.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

A hole made by boring is from about 1320,^[7][5] the cylindrical cavity of a gun or tube from 1572, and its inner diameter, the calibre, from 1583.^[7][5] A deep narrow hole bored into the earth is from 1674.^[7] In Scots a blue bore was a gap in the clouds showing blue sky (1775).^[7] Slang full bore, at top speed, is from 1936, from an unchoked carburettor.^[5]

Timeline

• before 800 – bor, an auger.^[4]
• c. 1000 – to bore (verb).^[4]
• c. 1320 – a hole bored.^[7]
• 1572 – the bore of a gun.^[7]
• 1674 – a borehole.^[7]
• 1936 – full bore.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make a hole in or through something, as with a drill.
2. To form a tunnel, shaft or well by drilling or digging.
3. To advance steadily or laboriously.

Noun

1. A hole or passage made by boring.
2. The hollow of a gun barrel or tube, or its inner diameter; calibre.
3. A borehole.

Word family

• borehole
• borer

bore² tidal wave

Etymology

The wave is probably from an unrecorded *bore (“wave”), borrowed from Old Norse bára (“wave, billow”).^[6][2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Middle English a bore was any billow or wave; the modern sense dates from the early 17th century,^[1] 1601 in Merriam-Webster.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the dialects of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Somerset the bore is the tidal wave of rivers such as the Severn and the Parrett.^[8]

Timeline

• 1601 – a tidal bore.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A high, often dangerous wave caused by a flood tide surging up a narrowing estuary.

bore³ weary

Etymology

To weary is of unknown origin.^[4][2][1] Merriam-Webster suggests an alteration of obsolete bourd, to jest, from Middle French bourder.^[6] Barnhart finds no evidence that it is a figurative use of the drilling bore, of persistent drilling or of “being in a deep hole”, as in the early phrase in a long bore.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, a fit of boredom or ennui, suggested to be a French malady: 1766.^[4][2] The verb is from 1768.^[4]

Semantic evolution

A tiresome person or thing is from 1778 in Barnhart;^[4] Hoad dates the tiresome thing to the 18th century and the tiresome person to the 19th.^[2] Boredom is from 1852, in Dickens's Bleak House.^[4]

Timeline

• 1766 – a fit of ennui.^[4]
• 1768 – to bore (verb).^[4]
• 1778 – a tiresome person or thing.^[4]
• 1852 – boredom.^[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To weary by being dull or tedious.

Noun

1. A dull, tiresome person or thing.

Word family

• boredom
• boring

Related words

• perforate

Usage notes

Bore is also the past tense of bear.^[5][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin