bull English · revision 5832

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʊl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|male animal}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=972}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The animal is [[inh|enm|bule]], from Old English bula (972, in place names),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps reinforced by [[non|boli|t=bull]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[gem-pro|*bullô]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which also gave Dutch bul and German Bulle.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to Old English bulluc “young bull” (see [[bullock]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It may come from a Germanic verb meaning “to roar”, or, according to Watkins, from PIE [[ine-pro|*bhel-|t=to blow, swell]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The male of cattle: about 1200 in the OED and Etymonline, probably before 1200 in Layamon's ''Brut''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The constellation Taurus is ''the Bull'' from 1509.^(OED 1989) The male of other large animals, such as the elephant or whale, is from 1615.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) On the stock exchange, a speculator who expects prices to rise is from 1714, probably formed in contrast to [[bear]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) ''bullish'' is from 1882.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Take the bull by the horns'' is recorded by 1711, in Swift,^(Etymonline) and ''a bull in a china shop'' from 1812.^(Etymonline) A policeman is a bull by 1859.^(Etymonline) The verb, to push through roughly, is American, from Mark Twain's ''Huckleberry Finn'' (1884).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 972 – bula, in place names.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – a male of cattle.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1509 – Taurus.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1615 – other large male animals.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1714 – a stock-market bull.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1812 – ''a bull in a china shop''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1884 – the verb, to push.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An adult male of [[cattle]] that has not been castrated.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The male of certain other large animals, such as the [[elephant]] or [[whale]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(finance)'' A person who buys shares expecting prices to rise.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A large, strong, aggressive person.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To push or force one's way.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ {{homograph|2|papal edict}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=la bulla}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The edict is [[bor|fro|bulle]], and directly Medieval Latin bulla “sealed document, seal”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|bulla|t=bubble, round knob, amulet]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988) The name passed from the seal, impressed on the document, to the document itself.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A papal edict: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The leaden seal attached to a papal edict is from 1340 in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hoad dates the sense of an official seal to the 14th century.^(Hoad 1986) The verb, to publish as a papal bull, is Middle English and now rare.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – a papal edict.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1340 – the seal of an edict.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An official order or announcement from the [[pope]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ {{homograph|3|nonsense}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=early 17th century}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The nonsense is of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Word Origins traces it to Old French boul “fraud, deceit”, Middle English boule,^(Cresswell 2021) and Etymonline notes an apparently identical Middle English bull “false talk, fraud”, from Old French bole “deception”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An expression containing a contradiction or ludicrous inconsistency, often called an Irish bull: the early 17th century.^(Cresswell 2021)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Insincere or trifling talk is from 1914 in Etymonline and is now often felt as short for [[bullshit]].^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The related verb, to fool or cheat, is from the mid-16th century, and to talk emptily from the mid-19th, both slang.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-16th century – to deceive.^(SOED 2002)

+ * early 17th century – a ludicrous contradiction.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1914 – nonsense.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' [[nonsense|alt=Nonsense]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A statement that [[contradict|alt=contradicts]] itself in a ludicrous way.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bullock]]

+ * [[bulletin]]

+ * [[bullet]]

+ * [[bullshit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scots and northern dialect, a bull is also one of the bars of a harrow, a word of unknown origin.^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}