Etymograph

English

boil

Boil comes from Middle English bile ‘boil, tumor’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *būlijō.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*būlijōreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150bȳl‘boil, swelling’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bile‘boil, tumor’
  4. Englishtodayboil

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*būlijōreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150bȳl‘boil, swelling’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bile‘boil, tumor’
  4. Englishtodayboil

The story

The expected form is bile; the rounding of the diphthong could be caused by the initial b- and/or by association with etymology 2.

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *būlijō

Another origin of boil

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰel-‘to sound’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbulla‘bubble’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbulliō‘to bubble’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400boillir
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500boillen‘to boil’
  6. Englishtodayboil

Today it means

noun A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *būlijō / boil

Shirt and support for this word