bullion
pronunciation
How to pronounce bullion in British English:
UK [ˈbʊliən]
How to pronounce bullion in American English:
US [ˈbʊljən]
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- Noun:
- a mass of precious metal
- gold or silver in bars or ingots
Word Origin
- bullion
- bullion: [14] The immediate source of bullion was Anglo-Norman bullion, which meant ‘place where coins are made, mint’, so presumably the underlying connotation is of melting, or ‘boiling’, metal down and then turning it into coins. On this reasoning it would come ultimately from Vulgar Latin *bulliōnem, a nominal derivative of Latin bullīre ‘boil’, from bulla ‘bubble’ (source of English boil). The present-day meaning ‘gold and silver in bulk’ had developed by the mid-15th century.=> boil
- bullion (n.)
- early 15c., "uncoined gold or silver," from Anglo-French bullion "bar of precious metal," also "place where coins are made, mint," perhaps, through the notion of "melting," from Old French boillir "to boil," from Latin bullire "boil" (see boil (v.)). But perhaps it is rather from Old French bille "stick, block of wood" (see billiards).
Example
- 1. Monetary institutions then swapped their bullion for yielding sovereign debt .
- 2. Markups on bullion are around 5 % .
- 3. The value of the bullion coin is based on the commodity it contains .
- 4. Afterfrancisco pizarro executed the inca king atahualpa in 1533 , the spanish shippedhome tons of bullion in a 300-year stream of galleons laden with silver andgold .
- 5. Either the bullion market or the treasury bond market is mistaken about the long-term inflationary outlook .