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bombax

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word bombax

bombax1 interjection of surprise

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek βομβάξ
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek βομβάξ

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈbɔm.baks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈbɔm.baks][1]

Forms

bombax (interjection)[2]

Etymology

The interjection is borrowed from Ancient Greek βομβάξ (bombáx).[2][3][4] Köbler calls it a word of colloquial speech.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it in the Pseudolus, in a rapid exchange: fūr. :: babae. :: fugitīve. :: bombax. :: fraus populī, “thief! – wow! – runaway! – my word! – cheat of the people!”[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The grammarians list it among the interjections: one calls it an interjection of mockery, and the commentators on Donatus say it expresses a sense of the ridiculous.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the Pseudolus.[2][4]

Meanings

Interjection

  1. An exclamation of real or pretended surprise or admiration: splendid! fancy that![2][3][1]

bombax2 cotton

Confidence
Probable
First attested
1208, English close roll
Ultimate origin
Latin bombyx

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈbɔm.baks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈbɔm.baks][1]

Forms

bombax (genitive bombacis); third declension; also bombex[6]

Etymology

The word for cotton is a medieval alteration of bombyx (“silkworm; silk”), with the sense moved from silk to cotton;[7][4][6] that word is from Ancient Greek βόμβυξ (bómbux, “silkworm”).[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1208 an English close roll records five pounds of cotton for three quilts.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant cotton fibre and cotton or silk fabric; the annals of Worcester, under the year 1284, tell of a wound stopped with cotton.[6] An account of a journey describes the low trees that bear cotton as a rose bears its flower.[6] In New Latin it names the silk-cotton tree.[1]

Old French bombace (“cotton, cotton wadding”) comes from it;[7] English took bombace “raw cotton” in the 1550s and altered it to bombast “cotton padding” in the 1570s.[7]

Timeline

  • 1208 – An English close roll records cotton for quilts.[6]
  • 1284 – The annals of Worcester tell of a wound stopped with cotton.[6]
  • 1328/1329 – A vocabulary records it.[4]
  • 1570s – English bombast is formed through Old French from it.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) Cotton, cotton fibre or wadding.[6][7][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Cotton or silk fabric; a doublet.[6]
  3. (New Latin) The silk-cotton tree.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Descendants

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Bombax.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/bombax. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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