"B" Word Origins

Bolingbroke

Old English

From an Old English personal name plus a word for "stream."

Bolivar

Origin · 1783

Most places named Bolivar honor Simon Bolivar (1783-1830).

Bolivia

Origin

Named after Simón Bolívar, the South American independence leader, whose own surname traces back to a Basque village called Bolibar.

Bolivian

Origin

Formed from Bolivia plus the adjective-forming suffix -an.

bollarding

Origin

From bollard + -ing.

Bollinger

German

From German Bollinger. Originally a name for someone from any of several places called Bollingen and Bolling.

bollock

Old English

From Middle English ballok, from Old English bealluc, literally "little ball."

bollocks

Old English

From Middle English ballokes, the plural of ballok ("testicle"), from Old English bealluc.

Bollywood

Origin

A blend of Bombay (Mumbai's former name) and Hollywood.

bolo

Spanish

From Philippine Spanish bolo, ultimately from Tagalog.

Bologna

Latin

Named after Bologna, Italy, ultimately from Latin Bonōnia.

bolognese

Italian

From Italian bolognese, literally "from Bologna."

Bolshevik

Russian

Borrowed from Russian bolʹševík, from bolʹšinstvó meaning "majority."

bolshevism

Origin

Borrowed from Russian большеви́зм (bolʹševízm, “Bolshevism”), from большинство (bolʹšinstvo, “majority, most”) (referring to the fact that the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party won on the majority of the important issues at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903) + -и́зм (-ízm, “-ism”, suffix forming the names of systems, schools of thought or theories based on the names of their subjects or objects). большинство is derived from большо́й (bolʹšój, “great, large”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bel-) + -ство (-stvo, suffix forming a neuter noun, usually an abstract noun denoting a relation, social status, scientific discipline, quality or state) (from Proto-Slavic *-ьstvo (suffix forming nouns denoting a condition or state)).

bolshevist

Origin

Borrowed from Russian большевист (bolʹševist).

bolshie

Origin

From Bolshevik (Russian большеви́к (bolʹševík), the socialist party in the 1918 Russian Revolution, from Russian большевики́ (bolʹševikí, “majority faction”), + -ie.

bolster

Old English

From Old English bolster ("pillow"), from a Germanic root shared with German Polster and Swedish bolster.

bolt

Old English

From Old English bolt, a Germanic word for an arrow or short shaft — the sense of a sudden dash or a lightning strike grew from the idea of something shooting out fast, like an arrow.

Bolton

Old English

From Middle English Bodeltone, ultimately from Old English words for "home, hall" and "enclosure, town."

BOLTS

Old English

From bolt, ultimately from Old English bolt, "arrow" or "short metal rod" — the mnemonic sense is a modern classroom invention using the initials of five mapping elements.

bolus

Late Latin

From Late Latin bōlus, "a lump," from Greek bôlos meaning "clod" or "lump."

bomb

French

From French bombe, from Italian bomba, ultimately from Greek bómbos, "a booming sound" — imitating the noise of an explosion.

bombard

Latin

From Middle French bombarde, an old word for a cannon or mortar, ultimately from Latin bombus meaning "a booming sound."

bombardier

Middle French

From Middle French bombardier, related to bombard.

bombardment

Origin

From bombard plus the suffix -ment.

bombast

Origin

From Old French bombace (“cotton, cotton wadding”), from Late Latin bombax (“cotton”), a variant of bombyx (“silkworm”), from Ancient Greek βόμβυξ (bómbux, “silkworm”), possibly related to Middle Persian pmbk' (“cotton”), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to twist, wind”.

bombastic

Origin

From bombast (“padding, stuffing”) + -ic, 18th century. Sense evolution possibly influenced by unrelated bomb and bombard; see also bombard phrase.

Bombay

Portuguese

From Portuguese Bombaim, likely linked to the Marathi goddess name Mumbādevī.

bomber

Origin

A shortened form of bombproof.

bombinate

Origin

From Medieval Latin bombināre (“buzz, hum”), variant of Latin bombilō, from Ancient Greek βομβυλιάζειν (bombuliázein), from βόμβος (bómbos, “booming, humming”), of imitative origin.

bombshell

Origin

From bomb + shell, originally an artillery shell, later applied figuratively to shocking news.

Bon

Origin

Borrowed from Tibetan bon.

bon appétit

French

French, literally good appetite.

bon voyage

French

French, literally good journey.

bona

Latin

From Mediterranean Lingua Franca (Sabir) bona ("good"), ultimately from Latin bonus, the same root that gives English "bonus" and "bon" in "bon voyage."

bona fide

Latin

From Latin bona fide, meaning in good faith, the ablative of bona fides.

bonanza

Latin

From Spanish bonanza, meaning fair weather or good luck at sea, which came from a Latin word for a calm sea. Its spelling was later shaped by confusion with the unrelated Latin bonus, "good."

Bonaparte

Italian

From Italian buona, "good," and parte, "part, share."

bonbon

French

From French bonbon, a childish doubling of bon, "good" — literally "good-good."

bonbonne

Origin

Borrowed from French bonbonne f, from Occitan boumbouno m [from boumbo + -ouno, ultimately from Latin bombus and -ōnem], made feminine in French under the influence of French bonne (unrelated), and with change of bomb- to bonb- under the influence of French bonbon (also unrelated). Although less common in French, the spelling bombonne more accurately reflects the Latin bomb- root.

bonbonniere

Origin

From French bonbonnière, from bonbon + -ière.

bonce

Origin

Related to bonzer.

bond

Old English

From Middle English bond, a variant of "band," from Old English words for a chain or binding tie — the same root that gives us "bind."

bondage

Old English

From Middle English bondage, originally meaning serfdom, ultimately traced to an Old English word for a householder or tenant farmer bound to a lord's land.

bondholder

Origin

From bond + holder.

bondman

Origin

From Middle English bondman; equivalent to bond + -man.

bondsman

Origin

Built from "bond" plus "man" — someone who stands behind another person's bond.

bone

Old English

From Old English bān, meaning bone or the bone of a limb, going back to an ancient Germanic root.