Wiktionary

bulb

English

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Flowers growing from a bulb (lower left)

Etymology

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    Etymology tree
    Ancient Greek βολβός (bolbós)bor.
    English bulb

    Inherited from Middle English bulb, bolbe, from Latin bulbus (“bulb, onion”), from Ancient Greek βολβός (bolbós, “plant with round swelling on underground stem”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    bulb (plural bulbs)

    2. The bulb-shaped underground portion of a plant such as a tulip, consisting of a shortened stem and many fleshy scale leaves, from which the rest of the plant may be regrown.
      • 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 265c:
        the plants which grow in the earth from seed or bulbs.
      • 2015 February 7, Val Bourne, “The quiet man of the world of snowdrops”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G8:
        Once it [a snowdrop variety] became established, some bulbs were lifted and passed on to be chipped (i.e. cut into small pieces and grown on).
    3. (dated, neuroanatomy) The medulla oblongata.
    4. Any solid object rounded at one end and tapering on the other, possibly attached to a larger object at the tapered end.
      the bulb of the aorta
      1. A light bulb (not necessarily bulbous in shape).
        an incandescent bulb
        an LED bulb
        a fluorescent tube bulb
    5. (nautical) A bulbous protuberance at the forefoot of certain vessels to reduce turbulence.
    6. (obsolete) An onion.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Verb

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    bulb (third-person singular simple present bulbs, present participle bulbing, simple past and past participle bulbed)

    1. (intransitive) To take the shape of a bulb; to swell.

    References

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    1. ^ Hall, Joseph Sargent (1942 March 2) “3. The Consonants”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 2, page 88.

    Anagrams

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    Catalan

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from Latin bulbus.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    bulb m (plural bulbs)

    1. (botany) bulb (bulb-shaped root of a plant)

    Derived terms

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    Further reading

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    Romanian

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from French bulbe.

    Noun

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    bulb m (plural bulbi)

    1. bulb

    Declension

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    singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative-accusative bulb bulbul bulbi bulbii
    genitive-dative bulb bulbului bulbi bulbilor
    vocative bulbule bulbilor
    Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=bulb&oldid=82064903"
      NODES
    Note 1
    Verify 3