Etymograph

English

bowl

Bowl comes from Middle English bolle, from Old English bolla ‘bowl, cup’, from Proto-Germanic *bullǭ ‘ball, round vessel’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to swell’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-1‘to blow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰln-1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bullǭ2‘ball’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bollā2‘ball’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bolla2‘bowl’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bolle2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1882bowl2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bullǭ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English bowl
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1882, Edwin Atlee Barber: “195. Old German Pipe-Bowl ; carved wood ; design…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bullǭ‘to blow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰln-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bullǭreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bullǭWiktionary, English bowl‘ball’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bollāWiktionary, English bowl‘ball’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bollaWiktionary, English bowl‘bowl’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bolleWiktionary, English bowl
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1882bowlWiktionary, English bowl. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1882, Edwin Atlee Barber: “195. Old German Pipe-Bowl ; carved wood ; design…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to blow, inflate, swell, bubble’

ball, bell, bull, flame, bold, bald, blaze, bale, blush, blur, blizzard, bleach, boil, budge, sabha, bolster, blemish, phlegm, phallus, blithe, phlox, blain, bola, bolero, bleat, 72 more

through Middle English bolle

boll

Another origin of bowl

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bew-‘swelling’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbulla‘bubble, stud, round object’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400boule‘ball’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bowle‘bowling ball’
  5. Englishtodaybowl

Today it means

noun As much as is held by a bowl.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bowl”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *bullǭ. 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-Indo-European *bʰel- / bowl

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