Etymologically
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bullio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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