bull

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bʊl/^[1]

bull¹ male animal

Etymology

The animal is inherited from Middle English bule, from Old English bula (972, in place names),^[2][3][4] perhaps reinforced by Old Norse boli (“bull”),^[3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *bullô,^[3][2] which also gave Dutch bul and German Bulle.^[3][2][4] It is related to Old English bulluc “young bull” (see bullock).^[2][4] It may come from a Germanic verb meaning “to roar”, or, according to Watkins, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *bhel- (“to blow, swell”).^[3][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The male of cattle: about 1200 in the OED and Etymonline, probably before 1200 in Layamon's Brut.^[7][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The constellation Taurus is the Bull from 1509.^[7] The male of other large animals, such as the elephant or whale, is from 1615.^[7][3] On the stock exchange, a speculator who expects prices to rise is from 1714, probably formed in contrast to bear;^[2][3][5] bullish is from 1882.^[2] Take the bull by the horns is recorded by 1711, in Swift,^[3] and a bull in a china shop from 1812.^[3] A policeman is a bull by 1859.^[3] The verb, to push through roughly, is American, from Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (1884).^[2][3]

Timeline

• 972 – bula, in place names.^[2]
• c. 1200 – a male of cattle.^[7]
• 1509 – Taurus.^[7]
• 1615 – other large male animals.^[7]
• 1714 – a stock-market bull.^[2]
• 1812 – a bull in a china shop.^[3]
• 1884 – the verb, to push.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An adult male of cattle that has not been castrated.
2. The male of certain other large animals, such as the elephant or whale.
3. (finance) A person who buys shares expecting prices to rise.
4. A large, strong, aggressive person.

Verb

1. To push or force one's way.

bull² papal edict

Etymology

The edict is borrowed from Old French bulle, and directly Medieval Latin bulla “sealed document, seal”,^[2][3][4] from Latin bulla (“bubble, round knob, amulet”),^[2][3][4] of uncertain origin.^[2] The name passed from the seal, impressed on the document, to the document itself.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A papal edict: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[2][3] The leaden seal attached to a papal edict is from 1340 in the OED.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Hoad dates the sense of an official seal to the 14th century.^[4] The verb, to publish as a papal bull, is Middle English and now rare.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a papal edict.^[2]
• 1340 – the seal of an edict.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An official order or announcement from the pope.

bull³ nonsense

Etymology

The nonsense is of unknown origin.^[4][8] Word Origins traces it to Old French boul “fraud, deceit”, Middle English boule,^[5] and Etymonline notes an apparently identical Middle English bull “false talk, fraud”, from Old French bole “deception”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An expression containing a contradiction or ludicrous inconsistency, often called an Irish bull: the early 17th century.^[5][8][4]

Semantic evolution

Insincere or trifling talk is from 1914 in Etymonline and is now often felt as short for bullshit.^[3][5] The related verb, to fool or cheat, is from the mid-16th century, and to talk emptily from the mid-19th, both slang.^[8]

Timeline

• mid-16th century – to deceive.^[8]
• early 17th century – a ludicrous contradiction.^[5]
• 1914 – nonsense.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (informal) Nonsense.
2. A statement that contradicts itself in a ludicrous way.

Related words

• bullock
• bulletin
• bullet
• bullshit

Usage notes

In Scots and northern dialect, a bull is also one of the bars of a harrow, a word of unknown origin.^[8][9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ 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)