Etymology

bulgar

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Today it means: A member of a migratory Turkic people from Central Asia who conquered Moesia in the 7th century and settled what is now Bulgaria, and some of whom then migrated to the Volga basin to establish Volga Bulgaria. Full definition →

Medieval Latin Bulgarus ← Old Church Slavonic блъгаринъ (blŭgarinŭ) ← Old Turkic 𐰉𐰆𐰞𐰍𐰀 (b¹wl¹g¹a)
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The story

  1. Proto-Turkic*bulga-
  2. Proto-Turkic*bulgar
  3. Old Turkic𐰉𐰆𐰞𐰍𐰀 (b¹wl¹g¹a)
  4. Old Church Slavonicблъгаринъ (blŭgarinŭ)
  5. Medieval LatinBulgarus
  6. English todayBulgar

From Medieval Latin Bulgarus, from Old Church Slavonic блъгаринъ (blŭgarinŭ), itself from the self designation of Turkic Bulgars, from Proto-Turkic *bulgar (“disturber, disturbing”), active noun/adjective of *bulga- (“to create a state of disorder; to stir, to disturb”). Displaced Old English Pulgare in the sense of "a Bulgarian", from the same Latin source. Doublet of bugger.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.