Etymologically
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bulldog

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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