• n. [植] 圓莢；博耳（容量單位）
• n. (Boll)人名；(阿拉伯)布勒；(英、法、德、芬、瑞典)博爾

來自PIE *bhel, 膨脹，鼓起。詞源同ball.

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.

1. Boll rot has been attributed to a wide range of organisms.

棉鈴腐爛是由分布范圍廣泛的微生物引起的.

來自辭典例句

2. The price was struck by the boll.

價格按博耳確定.

來自辭典例句

3. Certain boll shapes and absence of nectarines reduces easy avenues of penetration into the boll.

某些鈴形和無蜜腺減少病菌容易進入棉鈴的途徑.

來自辭典例句

4. The cotton grows on the plant as long hairs attached to the seeds inside the boll.

棉花在植株上作為附著在種籽上的長茸毛在棉鈴里生長發育.

來自辭典例句

5. Farm demonstration work in the South helped to fight the cotton boll weevil.

南部農場示范工作大大幫助了對棉花象鼻蟲的防治.

來自辭典例句