bulk English · revision 6938

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1440|origins=non búlki}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʌlk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English bolke, bulke, [[bor|non|búlki|t=a heap; ship's cargo]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE [[ine-pro|*bʰel-|t=to blow, swell]].^(Etymonline) The sense “size, volume” arose from confusion with obsolete [[bouk]], belly, from Old English [[m|ang|būc|t=belly, body]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The cargo of a ship: before 1350 in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) a heap, as of fish for salting, about 1440.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The belly or trunk of the body is from about 1460 and obsolete;^(OED 1989) size or volume is from the mid-15th century (about 1454).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''In bulk'', loaded loose, is from the 1670s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the greater part of anything by 1711.^(Etymonline) The verb, to swell, is from 1540, usually ''bulk up'' or ''out''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A separate bulk, a framework projecting from a shop front, a stall, is from the mid-16th century, from Old Norse bálkr.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1350 – a ship's cargo.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1440 – a heap.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1454 – size, volume.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1540 – to swell (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1670s – in bulk.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1711 – the greater part.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Great size, mass or [[volume]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A large body, especially a heavy human one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(the bulk)'' The main or greater part of something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(in bulk)'' In large quantities, or loose and not packaged.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[roughage|alt=Roughage]] in food.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(bulk up)'' To become or make bigger or heavier.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Large in quantity: ''bulk buying''.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[break-bulk]]

+ * [[outbulk]]

+ * [[bulk carrier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bulker]]

+ * [[bulkhead]]

+ * [[bulky]]

+ * [[bulk up]]

+ * [[bouk]]

+ * [[balk]]

+ * [[bulge]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}