boil English · revision 16168

+ English has two words spelled ''boil'': the verb, from French, and the noun for a skin swelling, a native word.^(Ayto 2005)^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɔɪ(ə)l/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|to bubble with heat}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1225, Juliana|origins=la bulla}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|boillen]], [[bor|xno|boiller]] and Old French [[m|fro|boillir]] (earlier [[m|fro|bolir]], modern [[fr|bouillir]]),^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) from [[la|bulliō|t=to bubble, seethe]],^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|bulla|t=bubble]],^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) perhaps from [[ine-pro|*bew-|t=to swell]].^(Etymonline) The native word was ''[[seethe]]''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To reach the boiling point: about 1225, in the ''Life of St Juliana'';^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates ''boillen'' about 1300.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of water or other things moving as if boiling, to seethe or bubble, is from about 1300,^(OED 2026) and of passions and angry people from about 1386, in Chaucer;^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates the figurative sense of feelings from the 1640s.^(Etymonline) The noun, an act or state of boiling, is probably from about 1425.^(Barnhart 1988) ''[[boiler]]'' appears in 1305 as a surname of a cook, and as a vessel for boiling in 1725, in Defoe.^(Barnhart 1988) Thieves' slang used ''boil'' for to betray or unmask (1602).^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1225 – to reach boiling point.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1300 – to seethe like boiling water.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1386 – of passions.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1425 – the noun, an act of boiling.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1725 – ''boiler'', a vessel for boiling.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # Of a liquid, to reach the temperature at which it bubbles and turns to [[vapour]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To cook food in boiling water.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To bubble or [[churn]] like boiling water.^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To be very angry; to [[seethe]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The state or point of boiling: ''bring to the boil''.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A swirling upwelling of water, as in a river.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[boiler]]

+ * [[boiling]]

+ * [[boil-off]]

+ * [[boilover]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|skin swelling}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=gmw-pro *būlja}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The swelling is [[inh|enm|bile]], altered in form, [[inh|ang|bȳle]] (also [[m|ang|bȳl]]),^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gmw-pro|*būlja|t=swelling]],^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005)^(ODE 2010) cognate with [[ofs|bēle]], [[goh|būlla|t=bladder, swelling]], [[de|Beule]], [[nl|buil]] and [[is|beyla|t=hump]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966) The base is also seen in [[got|𐌿𐍆𐌱𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=ufbauljan|t=to puff up]],^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) from [[ine-pro|*bʰew-|t=to swell]].^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) The spelling ''boil'' began in the 15th or 16th century, perhaps from association with the verb.^(Ayto 2005)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A hard, inflamed, pus-filled swelling: Old English, in a vocabulary;^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates ''bīl, bīle'' to about 1000.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle English ''bile'' is found about 1300, in Mannyng's ''Handlyng Synne'',^(Barnhart 1988) and the form ''boil'' in 1529, in Sir Thomas More,^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps under the influence of the verb, which in Middle English ''boillinge'' could mean inflammation.^(Barnhart 1988) Weekley notes that ''bile'' survived in dialect.^(Weekley 1921)^(Wright 1898) A swelling of any kind is from 1481, in Caxton,^(OED 2026) a blister on paint from 1841,^(OED 2026) and a figurative use from 1537.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – Old English ''bȳle''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – Middle English ''bile''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1481 – any swelling.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1529 – the spelling ''boil''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1841 – a blister on paintwork.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A painful, pus-filled swelling of the skin caused by infection of a [[hair follicle]]; a [[furuncle]].^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ebullient]]

+ * [[bullion]]

+ * [[bubble]]

+ * [[bull]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}