Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/60

---

man,’ first found in ModHG.; generally asserted to be a popular corruption of Gr. βάναυσος, which means ‘artisan;’ but it is inexplicable how the Gr. word found its way into popular speech. It is more probably of real German origin, although the primary meaning cannot be got at; we must begin with the fact that the word is native to LG., and is chiefly used in Tailors' Guilds. We must probably regard hase as a LG. form for Hose (see Aberglaube, Adebar). Böhn is generally considered to be a LG. word for Bühne, ‘garret’; hence Böhnhase is perhaps ‘one who makes breeches in the garret, petty tailor’ (opposed to one whose workroom is on the first floor).

bohren, vb., ‘to bore, pierce,’ from the equiv. MidHG. born, OHG. borôn; comp. the corresponding Du. boren, AS. borian, E. to bore (and bore, ‘hole made by boring’); Goth. *baúrôn. The prim. Teut. bŏrôn, ‘to bore,’ is primit. cognate with Lat. forare, ‘to bore,’ Gr. φαράω, ‘I plough’; Sans. bhurij, ‘scissors,’ belongs to the same root, and in Ir. there is a verbal root berr, from bherj, meaning ‘to shear.’ The primary meaning of this root bhar, which differs from that appearing in Geburt and Lat. fero, Gr. φέρω was probably ‘to fashion with a sharp instrument.’ Comp. ModHG. dial. Bohrer, ‘woodlouse,’ E. bore.

Boi, m., ‘baize,’ ModHG. only, from LG. baje, Du. baai, which is borrowed from Rom. (Fr. boie); perhaps E. baize is properly a plur.

Boisalz, m., ‘bay-salt', ModHG. only, of LG. origin, for Baisalt; comp. Bai and E. bay-salt.

Boje, f., ‘buoy,’ from the LG. boje, Du. boei, E. buoy, which are borrowed from Rom.; comp. Fr. bouée, ‘buoy,’ OFr. buie, ‘chain, fetter', whence MidHG. boie, ‘fetter'. The ultimate source of the word is Lat. boja, ‘fetter’; the buoy was originally a floating piece of wood with a rope fastened to it.

Bolchen, m., ‘cod,’ like Belche (1.), from the equiv. MidHG. balche; of obscure origin.

-bold, in compounds like Raufbold, Witzbold, &c., from MidHG. bolt, gen. boldes; it is the unaccented form of the MidHG. adj. balt, ‘bold,’ which is discussed under bald.

bölken, vb., ‘to roar, bleat,’ ModHG. only, and perhaps cognate with bellen, which had formerly a wider signification

than in ModHG.; comp. Du. bulken, ‘to bellow, bleat.’

boll, adj., ‘stiff (of leather), brittle, hard’; ModHG. only; origin obscure.

Bolle (1.), f., ‘onion,’ properly identical with the following word; both are subdivisions of a probable primary meaning, ‘bulbaceous.’ It is hardly probable that Gr. βολβός, Lat. bulbus (whence E. bulb), ‘bulb, onion,’ had any influence on the meaning. See also Zwiebel.

Bolle (2.), ‘bulb,’ from MidHG. bolle, OHG. bolla, f., ‘bud, bowl’; comp. the corresponding AS. bolla, ‘vessel, bowl,’ E. bowl (ModHG. Bowle, is borrowed from Eng.). Interesting forms are OHG. hirnibolla, ‘skull,’ and the equiv. AS. heáfodbolla. It is evident that there was orig. some such idea as ‘boss-shaped’ in the OTeut. word; comp. farther MidHG. boln, OHG. bolôn, ‘to roll, throw, hurl.’

Böller, m., ‘small mortar (for throwing shells),’ ModHG. only, a deriv. of the MidHG. boln, ‘to throw,’ mentioned under the preceding word; comp. late MidHG. boler, ‘catapult.’

Bollwerk, n., ‘bulwark, bastion,’ from late MidHG. bolwerk, ‘catapult, bulwark,’ in the former sense cognate with the preceding word; in the latter probably connected with Bohle; Du. bolwerk, E. bulwark. The Teut. word in the sense of ‘bulwark,’ which belongs to it since the 15th cent., found its way into Slav. and Rom. (Russ. bolverk, Fr. boulevard).

Bolz, Bolzen, m., ‘short arrow-bolt,’ from the equiv. MidHG. bolz, OHG. bolz, m.; comp. the equiv. OIc. bolte, AS. bolt, E. bolt; allied to Du. bout, ‘cramp-pin.’ The word has the same meaning in all dialects, and in all the various periods of the Teut. languages. We may assume a pre-Teut. bhḷdó-s, with the meaning ‘bolt, dart’; yet no such word outside the Teut. group can be adduced. Bolzen cannot be immediately akin to MidHG. boln, ‘to throw, hurl,’ since the Teut. t could not be explained as a deriv. from pre-Teut. d. But it is at least possible, on account of the great antiquity of the cognates, that they were borrowed from Lat. catapulta and remodelled.

Bombasin, m., ‘bombasine,’ ModHG. only, from Fr. bombasin, whence also E. bombasine; the original word is Lat.-Gr. bombyx, ‘silkworm, silk.’

Bombast, m., borrowed in the 18th cent. from E. bombast, which is not cognate