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bulldog

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Etymology and origin of the English word bulldog

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote
Ultimate origins
Middle English buleOld English docga
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English bull
English bulldog
From the same root
English bullpen ← bull

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈbʊl.dɒɡ/[1]
  • US: /ˈbʊl.dɔɡ/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English bull + dog.[2][3][4][5][6] The OED explains the name by the dog's use in bull-baiting, or perhaps by the shape of its head,[2] and Etymonline gives the same two explanations.[3] Klein and the Merriam-Webster “Book of Word Histories” take the name from bull-baiting alone, the history noting that it was not given because the dog looks like a bull.[7][8] The oldest spelling is bolddogge, and the OED compares a 15th-century glossary entry bonddoge, translating Latin molossus.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A strong, fierce breed of dog with a large head and short muzzle, formerly used for bull-baiting: about 1518, in Cocke Lorelles Bote.[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to about 1500,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1490–1500.[6]

Semantic evolution

Bulldogs were bred in England to seize a tethered bull by the nose and hold on; when Parliament outlawed bull-baiting in 1835, breeders kept the dog's build and determination but bred out its aggression, and the name came to stand for tenacity.[8] The name was transferred early to people and things thought to share the dog's fierceness: a sheriff's officer (1699), later one of the proctors' attendants at Oxford and Cambridge,[2][9][4] and humorously a cannon or pistol (1700), in modern use a kind of revolver.[2] From the mid-19th century it was used of a person of obstinate courage (1852)[2][4] and attributively, as in bulldog breed (1855).[2] Later senses include a gadfly (1792) and an Australian ant (1853),[2] forceps (1880) and a clip with a strong spring (1908),[2] and on the London Stock Exchange a bulldog bond, a sterling bond issued by a foreign borrower (1980).[2] In American newspaper slang the bulldog edition (1910) was the earliest run of a daily paper.[3] The verb, to attack like a bulldog, is recorded from 1842,[2][5] and in the American West it came to mean to throw a steer by seizing its horns and twisting its neck.[5][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1518 – the breed of dog.[2][5]
  • 1699 – a sheriff's officer (obsolete); later a proctor's attendant at the universities.[2][9]
  • 1700 – humorously, a cannon or firearm.[2]
  • 1792 – a kind of gadfly in America.[2]
  • 1842 – verb, to attack like a bulldog; later to throw a steer.[2][5]
  • 1852 – a person of tenacious courage.[2]
  • 1853 – the bulldog ant of Australia.[2]
  • 1908 – a clip with a strong closure.[2]
  • 1910 – the bulldog edition of a newspaper.[3]
  • 1980 – bulldog bond, on the Stock Exchange.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A thickset, muscular, short-haired dog of an English breed with a large head, wide-set forelegs and an undershot jaw, once used in bull-baiting.[5][4][2]
  2. A stubborn, courageous person who does not give up.[4][2][5]
  3. At Oxford and Cambridge, an attendant of the proctors.[4][2]
  4. A short-barrelled revolver.[2][5]

Adjective

  1. Like a bulldog, especially in tenacity or courage: bulldog determination.[5][2]
  2. Having a strong grip: a bulldog clip.[5][2]

Verb

  1. To attack or pursue fiercely and doggedly.[5][2]
  2. In the American West, to throw a steer by seizing its horns and twisting its neck.[5][2]

Word family

  • bulldogger
  • bulldogging
  • bulldoggedness
  • bulldog clip
  • bulldog edition

References

  1. ^ a b 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 q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
Cite this entry

“Bulldog.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/bulldog. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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