bullio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈbʊl.li.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbul.li.o]^[1]

Forms

bulliō (present infinitive bullīre, perfect active bullīvī or bulliī, supine bullītum); fourth conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin bulla (“bubble”) + -iō.^[2][1][3] The TLL calls it onomatopoeic.^[4] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *beu- (“to swell”), and Wiktionary also proposes this root for bulla.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL dates it from Vitruvius, who uses it of springs forced up bubbling by the wind.^[4] Köbler dates Vitruvius about 84–25 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to bubble, effervesce or boil; the TLL notes it was frequent in Apicius and the medical writers, as Celsus of a mixture cooked until it stops bubbling.^[2][4] Persius uses it of a drowned man who does not bubble up again on the surface, and Apuleius of boiling with indignation.^[7] Palladius has it transitively with facere, to make boil.^[4]

In medieval Latin it also meant to ferment, seethe and teem.^[8] It survives in Italian bollire, French bouillir and Spanish bullir.^[1][4] English boil came from Old French bolir in the early 13th century.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of bubbling springs.^[4][6]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of boiling a medicine.^[4][6]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it figuratively of a drowned man.^[7][6]
• early 13th century – English boil is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bubble, effervesce.^[2][1]
2. To boil.^[2][1]
3. (figurative) To boil with emotion.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) To ferment; to teem.^[8]

Word family

• bullēscō
• bullītus
• combullio
• ēbulliō
• rebulliō
• subbulliō
• perbulliō

Related words

• English boil
• English ebullient

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. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften