Etymologically
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bulga

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈbʊɫ.ɡa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbul.ɡa][1]

Forms

bulga f (genitive bulgae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“bag”), through Gaulish.[1] The OLD and the TLL call it Gaulish and compare Old Irish bolg (“leather bag, bellows”).[2][3] Festus says that the Gauls give this name to small leather bags.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius uses it of a purse in which a man keeps all his money, and humorously of the womb.[2] Köbler dates Lucilius about 180–102 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a leather bag, wallet or purse, worn hanging from the arm according to Nonius' quotation of Lucilius, and Varro uses it in his Menippean Satires.[2][4] Lucilius also jokes with it for a mother's womb.[2][6]

In late and medieval Latin it was a leather bag or bottle, used by Aldhelm of Judith's bag, and in medieval glosses also the belly.[7][8] French bouge comes from it, and Lewis & Short connect bougette.[3][4]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a purse and of the womb.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in the Menippean Satires.[2][5]
  • 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus explains it as a Gaulish word.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A leather bag, wallet, purse.[2][1]
  2. (colloquial) The womb.[2][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A leather bottle; the belly.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b 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
  8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften