Etymograph

English

bugger

Bugger comes from Middle English bougre ‘heretic’, from Medieval Latin Bulgarus ‘Bulgar’, and ultimately from Proto-Turkic *bulga- ‘to stir, stir up’.

  1. Proto-Turkicprehistoric (reconstructed)*bulga-‘to stir, stir up’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Turkic, derivedprehistoric (reconstructed)*bulgarreconstructed
  3. Old Turkicmodern𐰉𐰆𐰞𐰍𐰀b¹wl¹g¹a‘to stir’
  4. Old Church Slavonicmodernблъгаринъblŭgarinŭ‘Bulgarian’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500Bulgarus‘Bulgar’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bougre
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘heretic’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1947bugger

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Turkicprehistoric (reconstructed)*bulga-‘to stir, stir up’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Turkic, derivedprehistoric (reconstructed)*bulgarreconstructed
  3. Old Turkicmodern𐰉𐰆𐰞𐰍𐰀b¹wl¹g¹a‘to stir’
  4. Old Church Slavonicmodernблъгаринъblŭgarinŭ‘Bulgarian’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500Bulgarus‘Bulgar’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bougre
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘heretic’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1947bugger

Earliest quotation: 1947, James Hilton, So Well Remembered: “Here the cheers and shouts of the gallery were…”

Every English word from Proto-Turkic *bulga-

Today it means

noun A heretic.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Turkic *bulga- / bugger

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