Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BULLY (of uncertain origin, but possi...

Online Encyclopedia

Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 793 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.

Encyclopedia Home :: BRI-BUN

Spread the word:

del.icio.us it!

See also:

BULLY (of uncertain origin, but possibly connected with a Teutonic word seen in many compounds, as the Low Ger. bullerjaan, meaning " noisy "; the word has also, with less probability, been derived from the Dutch beel, and Ger. Buhle, a lover)

BULLY (of uncertain origin, but possibly connected with a See also:
TEUTONIC
TEUTONIC (GERMANIC) LANGUAGES
Teutonic word seen in many compounds, as the See also:
LOW, SETH (1850- )
LOW, WILL HICOK (1853- )
Low Ger. bullerjaan, meaning " noisy "; the word has also, with less See also:
PROBABILITY (Lat. probabilis, probable or credible)
probability, been derived from the Dutch beel, and Ger. See also:
BUHLE, JOHANN GOTTLIEB (1763-1821)
Buhle, a See also:
LOVER, SAMUEL (1797-1868)
lover) , originally a See also:

FINE

fine, swaggering See also:

FELLOW

fellow, as in " See also:

BULLY (of uncertain origin, but possibly connected with a Teutonic word seen in many compounds, as the Low Ger. bullerjaan, meaning " noisy "; the word has also, with less probability, been derived from the Dutch beel, and Ger. Buhle, a lover)

Bully Bottom" in A Midsummer See also:

NIGHT

Night's See also:

DREAM (from a root dreug, connected with Germ. trugen, to deceive)

Dream, later an overbearing See also:

RUFFIAN (Fr. ruffian, It. ruffiano)

ruffian, especially a See also:

COWARD

coward who abuses his strength by See also:

ill-treating the weak; more technically a souteneur, a See also:

man who lives on the earnings of a prostitute . The See also:

TERM

term in its See also:

early use of " fine " or "splendid" survives in See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

SLANG

slang .

End of Article: BULLY (of uncertain origin, but possibly connected with a Teutonic word seen in many compounds, as the Low Ger. bullerjaan, meaning " noisy "; the word has also, with less probability, been derived from the Dutch beel, and Ger. Buhle, a lover)

[back]
BULLROARER

[next]
BERNHARD ERNST VON BULOW (1815-1879)

Additional information and Comments

Living in Spain gives me an idea for the origin of the word and the concept "bullying". In thousands of summer "festivities" in Spain bulls and calves are bullied by hoards of often drunk youths. I understand that this kind of activity took place all over Europe in past centuries; possibly bovines are "ideal" victims of bullying because 1. they are not meat eaters and therefore do not pose a real threat 2. look big and fierce but are in fact pacific (like a big but simple boy in a class) 3. will run away until either exhausted or trapped when they will turn and attack 4. they tire easily. Please look at this link to see video of these poor animals being bullied and harrassed and I'd be very interested in hearing anyone's opinion of my theory of the origin of the word "bully" http://www.altarriba.org/2/verguenza/correbous.htm

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.

Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.
Links to articles and home page are encouraged.