The story
- Middle Low German · derived frombolwerk
- Middle Dutch · derived frombolwerk
- Middle English · inherited frombulwerk
- English todaybulwark
From Middle English bulwerk, from Middle Dutch bolwerk, bolwerc and Middle Low German bolwerk, equivalent to bole (“tree trunk”) + work. Cognate with German Bollwerk, Danish bolværk, Swedish bålverk, Dutch bolwerk. Doublet of boulevard (from French boulevard, from Dutch); cognate with Portuguese and Spanish baluarte and Italian baluardo.
Words from the same roots
Middle Dutchbolwerk all →
boulevard
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.