Etymograph

English

boll

Boll comes from Middle English bolle ‘pod’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *bullô ‘round object’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bullô1‘round object’reconstructed
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*bollo1reconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bolle1‘pod’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611boll1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English boll
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The barley was in the ear, and the flax…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bullôWiktionary, English boll‘round object’reconstructed
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*bolloWiktionary, English bollreconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bolleWiktionary, English boll‘pod’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1611bollWiktionary, English boll. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “The barley was in the ear, and the flax…”

Linked words

through Middle English bolle ‘pod’

bowl

Today it means

noun The rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “boll”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *bullô / boll

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