Etymology

bulb

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Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Latin bulbus ← Ancient Greek βολβός (bolbós)
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekβολβός (bolbós)
  2. Latinbulbus
  3. English todaybulb

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

Words from the same roots

Latinbulbus all →

bulbiformbulbilbulbus

Ancient Greekβολβός all →

bulbil

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.