Etymology

bolero

bo·le·ro
B3O1L1E1R1O1

Today it means: A lively Spanish dance in 3/4 time; also an unrelated slower-tempo dance of Cuban origin, in 2/4 time. Full definition →

Spanish bolero ← Old Occitan bola ← Vulgar Latin *bolla
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bew-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-der.?
  3. Latinbulla
  4. Frankish*bollā
  5. Vulgar Latin*bolla
  6. Old Occitanbola
  7. Spanishbola
  8. Spanishbolero
  9. English todaybolero

Borrowed from Spanish bolero, from bola + -ero. First attested in 1787 (noun). First attested in 1834 (verb).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.