Etymology

billow

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Today it means: A large wave, swell, surge, or undulating mass of something, such as water, smoke, fabric or sound. Full definition →

Middle English *bilwe ← Old Norse bylgja ← Proto-Germanic *bulgijō
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billow · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰelǵʰ-
  2. Proto-Germanic*belganą
  3. Proto-Germanic*bulgijō
  4. Old Norsebylgja
  5. Middle English*bilwe
  6. English todaybillow

From Middle English *bilwe, borrowed from Old Norse bylgja, from Proto-Germanic *bulgijō. Cognates include Danish bølge (“wave”); Norwegian Bokmål bølge (“wave”), Norwegian Nynorsk bylgje (“wave”); Swedish bölja (“wave”); German Low German Bulge, Bulg, Bülg (“billow, wave”); German Bulge (“billow, wave”). Compare bellow, bawl.

Billow · proper noun2

Probably a variant of Bellow or Bellew.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.