bule

Forms

būlē f (genitive būlēs, accusative būlēn, ablative būlē); first declension (Greek type)^[1][2][3] Köbler also records the forms būla and bōlē.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βουλή (boulḗ, “will, decision; council”).^[1][5][4] Beekes derives the Greek noun from βούλομαι (boúlomai, “to want, wish”), a verb whose prehistory he calls much discussed and unresolved.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Pliny the Younger,^[4] in the tenth book of his letters, of the councils of Greek cities: one passage speaks of the whole council being invited, another of the council and the assembly agreeing.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It refers to the council of a Greek city.^[1][2] Pliny cites the Pompeian law, which did not require those enrolled in the council by the censors to pay a fee.^[3] Inscriptions of the 2nd century name the council of Ephesus beside the city, and the city and council of Arados.^[3]

Timeline

• 61/62–before 117 AD – Pliny the Younger uses it of Greek city councils.^[3][4]
• 2nd century AD – An inscription names the council and city of Ephesus.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Greek council or senate, the boule.^[1][5]

Usage notes

Bulē is also found in inscriptions as a Greek woman's name.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill