Etymology

bolgia

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Today it means: Any of the divisions of the eighth circle of Hell, Malebolge, in Dante's Divine Comedy. Full definition →

Italian bolgia ← Old French bolge ← Late Latin bulga
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰelǵʰ-“to swell”
  2. Proto-Celtic · derived from*bolgos“sack, bag”
  3. Gaulish · derived frombolgā
  4. Late Latin · derived frombulga“wallet, purse”
  5. Old French · derived frombolge
  6. Italian · borrowed frombolgia“ditch, trench”
  7. English todaybolgia

Unadapted borrowing from Italian bolgia (“ditch, trench”), from Old French bolge, bouge, from Late Latin bulga (“wallet, purse”), from Gaulish bolgā, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos (“sack, bag”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”). Doublet of budge and bulge.

Words from the same roots

Late Latinbulga all →

budgetbulgebung

Gaulishbolgā all →

budgetbung

Proto-Celtic*bolgos all →

bulgebung

Proto-Indo-European*bʰelǵʰ- all →

budgetbellyblagfoolhardy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.