English
bolero
Bolero comes from Spanish bolero ‘bolero (music)’, from bola ‘ball’, and ultimately from Latin bulla ‘a bubble’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbulla‘a bubble’
- Spanishc. 1500–presentbola‘ball’
- Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presentbolero‘bolero (music)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1831same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbulla‘a bubble’
- Spanishc. 1500–presentbola‘ball’
- Spanish, derivedc. 1500–presentbolero‘bolero (music)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1831same form
Earliest quotation: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “Edward's attention was at first rivetted on two dancers…”
first attested First attested in 1787 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in 1787 (noun). First attested in 1834 (verb).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘to sound’
ball, bell, flame, bald, blaze, bold, blush, blur, blizzard, bale, bleach, sabha, bolster, blemish, phallus, blithe, phlox, phlegm, blain, ebullient, buller, bleat, 71 more
through Latin bulla ‘a bubble’
bill, bull, bowl, boil, budge, bouillon, bolas, 14 more
through Spanish bola ‘ball’
Today it means
noun A lively Spanish dance in 3/4 time; also an unrelated slower-tempo dance of Cuban origin, in 2/4 time.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin bulla / bolero