bombast English · revision 496

− It is an alteration of obsolete ''bombace'' “raw cotton, cotton padding”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) [[bor|fro|bombace|t=cotton, cotton wadding]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|la-med|bombax|t=cotton]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) itself an alteration of [[la|bombyx|t=silk, silkworm]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) [[der|grc|βόμβυξ|tr=bómbux]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) Barnhart suggests the final ''-t'' came from ''bombast'', the past participle of an obsolete verb ''bombase'' “to stuff with cotton”.^(Barnhart 1995)