boll
pronunciation
How to pronounce boll in British English:
UK [bəʊl]
How to pronounce boll in American English:
US [boʊl]
-
- Noun:
- the rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant
Word Origin
- boll (n.)
- Old English bolla "bowl, cup, pot," merged with Middle Dutch bolle "round object," borrowed 13c., both from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole). Influenced in meaning by Latin bulla "bubble, ball," ultimately from the same PIE root. Extended c. 1500 to "round seed pod of flax or cotton." Boll weevil is 1895, American English. In south Texas, among Spanish-speaking people, the insect is generally known as the 'picudo,' a descriptive name which refers to the snout or beak of the insect. English-speaking planters generally referred to the insect at first as 'the sharpshooter,' a term which for many years has been applied to any insect which causes through its punctures the shedding of the squares or the rotting of the bolls. As there are several native insects that are commonly called sharpshooters and which, though injurious, are by no means to be compared with this insect, it becomes necessary to discourage in every way the use of the word sharpshooter as applied to this weevil. The adoption of the term 'Mexican cotton-boll weevil' for the new pest is recommended. [New Mexico College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 19, April 1896] A case of entomology meddling in etymology.
Example
- 1. Establishing and applying the meteorological forecast of cotton boll worms in puyang .
- 2. But then on closer inspection , boll was surprised to find the letter was actually dated july 24 , 1862 .
- 3. The sensitivity of abscission to soil moisture was more noticeable in full flowering to beginning of boll opening stage than in other stages , especially in squaring stage .
- 4. But in the early years of the century , the boll weevil began devastating the cotton farms in the south .
- 5. Table 1 effect of high temperature on survival and reproduction of cotton boll worm .