Bull

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbʊl/

Definitions

  1. A fully grown male of the cattle species known for its strength and aggression ; to push or forcefully move something forward ; a term for confident or optimistic market behavior in finance
  2. The adult male bovine animal typically used for breeding ; to propel or shove abruptly in a particular direction ; an attitude or approach that anticipates increased prices in trading
  3. An adult male bovine animal known for its muscular build and role in breeding ; to thrust or shove with force and determination ; a market trend characterized by rising prices and investor confidence

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "bull" is that the animal and the papal document share a name only by coincidence of distant roots, while the animal word itself is a tangle of two parallel Germanic forms. Middle English "bole" came from a merging of Old English "bula" and Old Norse "boli," both descended from a Proto-Germanic word meaning "bull." The two strands fused into one word, and the animal sense has ancient cousins: Dutch "bul," German "Bulle," and Swedish "bulla," along with Latin "follis," meaning bellows or leather bag, which points to a shared sense of swelling. A second, unrelated "bull" entered English through Old French "bulle" from Latin "bulla," meaning a round swelling or bubble, a word that probably came from Gaulish. This same root gave the papal seal, the round lead stamp attached to official decrees, and the sense of a sealed decree is what the papal "bull" denotes. It is a doublet of "bulla," meaning the two forms arose from one source by separate routes into English. A third "bull," meaning falsehood or deceit, came from Old French "boul" and "bouler," meaning to deceive or lure, which were borrowed from Middle Low German "bôlen," meaning to court or woo. This sense is a doublet of "bully." Folk analysis often links it to a shortened form of "bullshit," but that is a reanalysis of the form rather than its true origin.

Synonyms: bovine, ox, steer

Antonyms: cow, heifer