English
bollocks
Bollocks comes from Old English bealluc ‘testicle’, and goes back to *beall ‘ball’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*beall‘ball’reconstructed
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150beallucas beallucas‘testicle’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ballokes
- Englishearliest quotation 1916bollocks
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*beall‘ball’reconstructed
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150beallucas beallucas‘testicle’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ballokes
- Englishearliest quotation 1916bollocks
Earliest quotation: 1916, James Joyce, New York: “—I’m a ballocks, he said, shaking his head in…”
Equivalent to bollock + -s
Old English *beall ‘ball’
Old English bealluc ‘testicle’
Middle English ballok ‘testicle’
English bollock
Linked words
through Old English *beall ‘ball’
through Old English bealluc ‘testicle’
Today it means
noun The testicles.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English *beall / bollocks