Bolls

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rounded seed capsule of certain plants, especially cotton, that contains seeds and fibers
2. the mature case or pod containing the seeds of some flowering plants
3. a structure in plants that supports the growth and development of seeds

Etymology: "Bolls" is simply the plural of "boll," so the word's history is the history of "boll" itself. It traces back to a Proto-Germanic root, "bullô," meaning "round object" or "bowl," which is also the source of the English word "bowl." The same idea of roundness runs through the word's family: the seed pods of cotton and flax are rounded containers, and the name fits that shape. The word reached English through Middle English "bolle," meaning "pod" or "shell," which shares its origins with Middle Dutch "bolle," meaning "round object." Both drew on a Frankish form, "bollo," that carried the same sense of a rounded thing. So a cotton boll is, at root, a little bowl.

Synonyms: capsules, pods