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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers with Unicode^® support and fonts spanning the Unicode 3 character set relevant to Indo-European languages. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 2 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 3. bhel-, bhlē- 'to grow, spread, swell, inflate'

Semantic Fields: to Grow; to Stretch

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Old Irish:	ball	n.masc	penis, part of body	GED
English
Old English:	ballice	adv	defiantly, bravely	GED
	b(e)ald	adj	bold	GED/ASD
	b(e)aldor	n.str.masc	prince, master, lit. bolder	GED
	*beall	n	ball	AHD
	bealloc	n.fem	testicle	GED
	bealluc, beallucas	n	testicle(s)	RPN
	beldo/byldo	n	bield	W2I
	blǣd	n.masc	breath, blowing	GED
	blǣd(d)re	n.fem	bladder, blister, swelling	W7/ASD
	blǣs	n.neut	blowing	GED
	*blǣsan	vb	to blow, blaze	CDC
	blǣst	n.str.masc	blast, breath, blowing	GED
	blǣstan	vb.wk	to blast, blow	GED
	blāwan	vb.wk	to blow	GED
	blōtan	vb.str	to worship (with sacrifice)	GED
	blōtere	n	sacrificer	GED
	bolla	n.wk.masc	bowl, dish, vase	GED
	bula	n	bull	W7
	bulluc	n.str.neut	bull, bullock, breeding animal	GED
	byldan	vb.wk	to encourage	GED
Middle English:	bal/ball(e)	n	ball	W7/CDC
	bald(e)/bold(e)	adj	bold	MEV/CDC
	bale	n	bale	W7
	baleine/bale(y)ne	n	whale, baleen	W7/CDC
	ballock/balluk/balok	n	ballock	W7/CDC
	baude	n	bawd	CDC
	bawde	n	bawdry	W7
	beeld/belde	n	bield	W2I
	blad(d)er/bled(d)er/bladdre	n	bladder	W7/CDC
	blasen	vb	to blaze	W7
	blast/blest	n	blast	W7/CDC
	blowen/blawen	vb	to blow	W7/CDC
	bole	n	bole	W7
	boll	n	boll	W7
	bolle	n	bowl	W7
	boulderston	n	boulder (stone)	CDC
	bule/bole	n	bull	W7/MEV
	bulk	n	bulk	W7
	flavor	n	flavor	W7
	folie	n	folly	W7
	fool	n	fool	W7
	fullen	vb	to full	W7
English:	afflatus	n	inspiration, divine imparting of knowledge/power	AHD/W7
	Balder	prop.n	comely but ill-fated son of Odin	LRC
	Baldor	prop.n	Rohan prince in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	bale	n	large bundle (of goods)	AHD/W7
	baleen	n	whalebone	AHD/W7
	ball	n	round(ish) body/mass	AHD/W7
	ballock	n	testis	AHD/W7
	balloon	n	nonporous air-filled bag made of light but tough material	AHD/W7
	ballot	n	small ball used for secret vote	AHD/W7
	ballottement	n	finger push on uterine wall to diagnose pregnancy	AHD/W7
	bawd	n	pander	AHD/W7
	bield	n.obs	boldness, courage, confidence	W2I
	bilberry	n	plant akin to blueberry	AHD/W7
	biltong	n	jerked meat	AHD/W7
	bladder	n	membranous sac in animal serving as liquid receptacle	AHD/W7
	blase	adj	sophisticated, jaded re: pleasure/excitement	AHD/W7
	blast	n	violent gust of air	AHD/W7
	blather	n	nonsense, foolishness	LRC
	blather	vb.intrans	to talk foolishly	AHD/W7
	blaze	vb.trans	to proclaim, make public/conspicuous	AHD/W7
	blow, blew, blown	vb.str	to move (air) with speed/force	AHD/W7
	bold	adj	intrepid, fearless before danger	AHD/W7
	bole	n	base/trunk of tree	AHD/W7
	boll	n	pod/capsule of plant	AHD/W7
	bollix	vb.trans	to throw into disorder	AHD/W7
	boulder	n	rounded detached much-worn rock mass	AHD/W7
	bowl	n	concave/hemispherical vessel for holding liquid	AHD/W7
	bulk	n	volume, magnitude	AHD/W7
	bull	n	adult male bovine animal	AHD/W7
	bullock	n	steer, castrated bull	AHD
	Bullroarer	prop.n	a.k.a. Bandobras Took in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	conflate	vb	to fuse, meld, combine, bring together	AHD
	deflate	vb	to lose/remove air	AHD/CDC
	flabellum	n	body part/organ resembling fan	AHD/W7
	flageolet	n	small flute resembling treble recorder	AHD/W7
	flatulent	adj	marked/affected by intestinal/stomach gases	AHD/W7
	flatus	n	gas generated in bowels/stomach	AHD/W7
	flavescent	adj	yellowish, turning yellow	AHD
	flavin	n	yellow water-soluble pigment	AHD/W7
	flavoprotein	n	enzyme containing flavin	AHD
	flavor	n	odor, fragrance	AHD/W7
	follicle	n	small anatomical cavity/deep narrow-mouthed depression	AHD/W7
	folly	n	lack of foresight/good sense/normal prudence	AHD/W7
	fool	n	one lacking in judgment/prudence	AHD/W7
	full	vb.trans	to shrink/thicken (woolen cloth) using moisture/heat/pressure	AHD/W7
	inflate	vb	to swell/distend with air/gas	AHD/W7
	insufflate	vb.trans	to blow on/into	AHD/W7
	isinglass	n	whitish, semi-transparent pure gelatin	AHD/W7
	ithyphallic	adj	re: phallus carried in ancient bacchic festival procession	AHD/W7
	phallus	n	(symbol/representation of) male sexual organ	AHD/W7
	phellem	n	nonliving water-resistant protective plant tissue	AHD
	phelloderm	n	tissue produced inwardly by cork cambium	AHD
	phellogen	n	secondary meristem initiating phellem/phelloderm in plant stem	AHD/W7
	rocambole	n	European leek	AHD/W7
	souffle	n	dish made of egg yolk or whipped egg whites	AHD/W7
Scots English:	blather/blether	n	bladder	CDC
	blether	vb	to blather	CDC
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	balde	adv	quickly	ASD
	blāu	adj	bluish	GED
	bolla	n.masc	bowl	ASD
Old Dutch:	blæder/blære	n.fem	bladder	ASD
Middle Dutch:	bale	n	bale	ODE
	bille	n	buttock	AHD
	blæder	n	bladder	CDC
	blæsen	vb	to blaze, sound trumpet	CDC
	blase	n	bladder	W7
	blāsen	vb	to blow	W7
	bolle	n	boll, round object	AHD
	huusblase	n	sturgeon bladder; isinglass	W7
Dutch:	baal	n	bale	ODE
	bal	n	ball, round bundle	CDC
	blaar	n.fem	bladder	ASD
	blaas	n	bladder	TLL
	blazen	vb	to blaze, blow, breathe, sound trumpet	CDC
	bol	n.masc	bowl	ASD
	boud	adj	bold	CDC
	huizenblas	n	isinglass	W7
Afrikaans:	bil	n	buttock	W7
	biltong	n	biltong	W7
Old Flemish:	bale	n	ball/bale, round bundle	CDC
Flemish:	bal	n	ball	CDC
Old Saxon:	bald	adj	bold, merry	GED/AHD
	beldian	vb.wk	to encourage	GED
Middle Low German:	bal	n	ball	CDC
	balde/bolde	adv	soon, quickly, at once	CDC
	bale	n	bale, round bundle	CDC
	blādere	n	bladder	CDC
	blāsen	vb.str	to blow, breathe, blaze	GED/CDC
	bulle	n.str.neut	bull, bullock, breeding animal	GED
Low German:	ball	n	ball	CDC
	bladere/bledder/blare	n	bladder	CDC
Old High German:	bald	adj	bold	GED
	balden	vb.wk	to encourage	GED
	baldī	n.wk.fem	bravery	GED
	balla/palla	n.fem	ball, bale	GED/CDC
	ballo	n.wk.masc	ball	GED
	blāen	vb	to blow	W7
	blāhan	vb.str	to blow	CDC
	blā(j)an	vb.wk	to blow	GED/ASD
	blāo	adj	bluish	GED
	blāsa	n.fem	bubble	GED
	blāsan	vb.str	to blow	GED
	blāsen	vb	to blow	RPN
	blāst	n.str.masc	blast, breath	GED
	blāt	n.masc	blowing	GED
	blātara/blattara/blātra	n.fem	bladder	W7/ASD/CDC
	blōzan/plo(az)zan	vb.str	to worship (with sacrifice)	GED/ASD
	bluostar	n.str.neut	offering	GED
	bluostrāri	n.str.masc	sacrificial priest	GED
	bolla	n	bowl	CDC
	bolla	n	blister	W7
	hirni-polla	n	skull, lit. brain-bowl	ASD
	ploz-hūs	n.str.neut	temple	GED
Middle High German:	bald	adj	bold	CDC
	balle	n	ball	CDC
	blæjen	vb	to blow	ASD
	blæwen	vb	to blow	CDC
	blāsen	vb	to blow, breathe, blaze	CDC
	blast	n.masc	blast (of air/wind), blowing, breeze	ASD
	blāter(e)/blatter	n.fem	bladder	ASD/CDC
	blōdern	vb	to blather, chatter	W7
	bluoten	vb	to sacrifice	ASD
	bole	n	bole, thick plank	CDC
	bolle	n	bowl	CDC
	hirn-bolle	n	skull, lit. brain-bowl	ASD
New High German:	bille	n.fem	penis	GED
	bulle	n.fem	vulva	GED
German:	bald	adv	soon, quickly	CDC
	Ball	n.masc	ball	CDC
	Ballen	n.masc	bale, package	CDC
	bladdern	vb.dial	to blather	CDC
	blähen	vb	to blow	ASD
	Blase	n.fem	bladder, blister	TLL
	blasen	vb	to blow, breathe, blaze	CDC
	Blast	n	blast (of air/wind)	CDC
	Blatter	n.fem	bladder	ASD
	Bohle	n.fem	bole, thick plank	CDC
	Bolle	n	bulb	W7
	Bowle	n.fem	(punch) bowl	CDC
	Bulle	n	bull	TLL
	Rockenbolle	n	European leek	W7
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	Baldr	n.masc	Balder: Norse god	W7
	ballr	adj	bold	ASD
	blaðra	vb	to blather, chatter	W7
	bolli	n.masc	bowl	ASD
	bolr	n	bole	W7
	bulki	n	cargo	W7
	böllr	n	ball, testicle	W7
Old Icelandic:	baldinn	adj	brave, defiant	GED
	Baldr	prop.n	Balder: Norse god	GED
	ballr	adj	bold	GED
	bella	vb.wk	to encourage	GED
	blār	adj	bluish	GED
	blāsa	vb.str	to blow	GED
	blāstr	n.str.masc	blast, breath	GED
	blōt	n.neut	sacrifice	GED
	blōta	vb.str	to worship (with sacrifice)	GED
	blōt-goð	n.str.masc	(heathen) priest	GED
	blǣr	n.masc	gust of wind	GED
	boli	n.str.neut	bull, bullock, breeding animal	GED
	bǫllr	n.str.masc	ball, testicle	GED
	her-baldr	n.str.masc	leader of army	GED
Icelandic:	ballr	adj	bold	CDC
	blaðr	n	blather	CDC
	blaðra	n.fem	bladder	ASD
	blaðra	vb	to blather	CDC
	blāsa	vb	to blow, breathe, blaze	CDC
	blāstr	n.masc	blast (of air/wind), breeze, blowing	ASD
	blōta	vb	to sacrifice	ASD
	bolli	n	bowl	CDC
	bolr/bulr	n	bole	CDC
	böllr	n	ball	CDC
Norwegian:	böllr	n	ball	CDC
Old Danish:	blothe	vb	to sacrifice	ASD
	bold	adj	bold	CDC
Danish:	bal	n	billiard ball	CDC
	balde	n	ball, testicle	CDC
	balle	n	bale	CDC
	blære	n	bladder	ASD
	blæse	vb	to blow, breathe, blaze	CDC
	blæst	n	blast (of air/wind)	CDC
	bold	n	ball	CDC
	bolle	n	bowl	CDC
	bul	n	bole, stump, log	CDC
	buldre	vb	to make loud noise	CDC
	bølle	n	whortleberry	W7
Old Swedish:	bol/bul	n	bole, body	CDC
Swedish:	bal	n	bale	CDC
	blota	vb	to sacrifice	ASD
	blæddra/bläddra	n.fem	bladder	ASD/CDC
	blåsa	n	bladder	TLL
	blåsa	vb	to blow, breathe, blaze	CDC
	blåst	n	blast (of air/wind)	CDC
	boll	n	ball	CDC
	buller	n	noise	W7
	bullersten	n	large stone in a stream	W7
	bål	n	bowl	ASD
	bål	n	bole, body	CDC
E-Germanic
Gothic:	balþaba	adv	boldly, frankly	GED
	balþei	n	bield	CDC
	*balþs	adj	bold	ASD
	blēsan	vb	to blow, breathe, blaze	CDC
	*blostr	n	offering	GED
	blotan	vb.str.VII	to serve (God), honor (through sacrifice)	GED
	*uf-blesan	vb.str.VII	to boast, blaze, blow, puff up	GED/CDC
Italic
Latin:	afflo, afflāre, afflātus	vb	to blow on	W7
	balaena	n.fem	whale	W7
	flabellum	n.neut	fan	W7
	flātus	n.masc	wind, breath, blowing	GED
	flāvus	adj	golden yellow	GED
	flō, flāre	vb	to blow	RPN
	folliculus	n.masc	little bag; inflated ball; scrotum	RPN
	follis	n.masc	leather bag, bellows; scrotum	RPN
	fullō	n.masc	fuller	W7
	inflo, inflare, inflatus	vb	to inflate, blow in	W7
	phallus	n.masc	phallus	W7
	sufflō, sufflāre	vb	to blow, puff up	W7
Vulgar Latin:	flabeolum	n.neut	flute	W7
	flator	n.masc	flavor	W7
	fullo, fullāre	vb	to full	W7
Late Latin:	insufflo, insufflāre, insufflāvī, insufflātus	vb	to insufflate	W7
Middle Latin:	bal(l)a	n	ball, bale, package, round bundle	CDC
	palla/bala	n	ball, bale	CDC
New Latin:	flabellum	n.neut	body organ resembling fan	W7
Portuguese:	bala	n	ball, bale	CDC
	balãa	n	balloon	CDC
Spanish:	bala	n	ball, bale	CDC
	balon	n	football; large bale	CDC
	balota	n	ballot	CDC
Old French:	bald/baud/boud	adj	bold, gay, lively	CDC
	balene	n	baleen	CDC
	bal(l)e	n	ball, bale	CDC
	flajol	n.masc	small flute	W7
	flajolet	n.masc	small flute	W7
	fol	adj	fool, crazy	W7
	folie	n.fem	folly, craziness	W7
Middle French:	baloter	vb	to toss about	W7
	balotte	n.fem	little ball	W7
	flaor	n.fem	flavor	W7
	flatulent	adj	passing gas	W7
	flavor	n.fem	flavor	W7
	fouler	vb	to trample	W7
French:	baleine	n	baleen	CDC
	balle	n	ball, bale	CDC
	ballon	n.masc	balloon; large football; rounded glass for fine alcohols	W7
	bal(l)otte	n	ballot	CDC
	ballottement	n.masc	shaking, rolling motion	W7
	ballotter	vb	to toss around	W7
	blasé	adj	blase	W7
	bol	n	bowl	CDC
	flageolet	n.masc	flageolet; haricot bean	W7
	rocambolesque	adj	extravagant, re: story of extraordinary adventures	W7
	souffle	n.masc	breath, light wind	W7
	souffler, soufflē	vb	to blow, puff up	W7
Old Occitan:	bala	n	ball, bale	CDC
Italian:	balla	n.fem	bale	CDC
	ballone	n.masc	large football	W7
	ballotta	n.fem	ballot ball; boiled chestnut	W7/CID
	balod	adj	bold, gay	CDC
	palla	n	ball	CDC
	pallone	n	balloon, football	CDC
Baltic
Lithuanian:	bulė	n	buttocks	GED
	bulìs	n	buttocks	GED
Hellenic
Greek:	ithyphallikos	adj	with phallus erect	W7
	ithyphallos	n.masc	erect phallus	W7
	φάλης	n	penis	GED
	phallaina	n.fem	whale, sea monster	W7
	φαλλός	n	penis	GED
	phellos	n.masc	cork	W7
	φληνέω	vb	to be talkative	GED
Armenian
Armenian:	bl-roy	n.gen	hill	GED
	bolor	adj	round	GED
Indic
Sanskrit:	bulis	n.fem	vulva, buttocks	GED

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
VII	=	class 7
adj	=	adjective
adv	=	adverb(ial)
dial	=	dialectal
fem	=	feminine (gender)
gen	=	genitive (case)
intrans	=	intransitive
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
obs	=	obsolete
prop	=	proper
str	=	strong (inflection)
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb
wk	=	weak (inflection)

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC	=	W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
CID	=	Cassell's Italian Dictionary (1958)
GED	=	Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
MEV	=	J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
ODE	=	C.T. Onions: The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (1966)
RPN	=	Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W2I	=	Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed. (1959)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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