English

aboil

From a- (“in, on”) + boil.

A compound of a- ‘in, on’ + boil

Proto-Indo-European *uds- ‘up, out’

Proto-Germanic *uz- ‘out-’

Proto-West Germanic *uʀ- ‘up, out, over’

English a-

Proto-Germanic *būlijō

Old English bȳl ‘boil, swelling’

Middle English bile ‘boil, tumor’

English boil

Today it means

adj In a boil; boiling.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.