*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of bugle

Etymology tree Anglo-Norman buglebor. Middle English bugle English bugle Inherited from Middle English bugle, from Anglo-Norman bugle (“young ox, heifer; bugle”), from Latin būculus (“young ox, steer”).

4 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 4 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
noun

A horn used by hunters. · A simple brass instrument consisting of a horn with no valves, playing only pitches in its harmonic series · The sound of something that bugles. · A sort of wild ox; a buffalo.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Anglo-Norman buglebor. Middle English bugle English bugle Inherited from Middle English bugle, from Anglo-Norman bugle (“young ox, heifer; bugle”), from Latin būculus (“young ox, steer”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:bugle<ety:bor<xno:bugle<id:horn>>>",
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      },
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      "expansion": "Inherited"
    },
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        "4": "",
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      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bugle"
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      },
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    },
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    },
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        "4": "",
        "5": "young ox, steer"
      },
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    },
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    ],
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      "bugle#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "bugle#Old_French:_horn"
    ],
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      "buculus#Latin"
    ]
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      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
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        "borrowed"
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        "A horn used by hunters.",
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Source etymology 1 · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
verb

To announce, sing, or cry in the manner of a musical bugle.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Anglo-Norman buglebor. Middle English bugle English bugle Inherited from Middle English bugle, from Anglo-Norman bugle (“young ox, heifer; bugle”), from Latin būculus (“young ox, steer”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:bugle<ety:bor<xno:bugle<id:horn>>>",
        "id": "horn",
        "tree": "1"
      },
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        "ts": "",
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        "g": "",
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        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
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      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bugle"
    },
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    },
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      },
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    },
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        "4": "",
        "5": "young ox, steer"
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    },
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      },
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    }
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A tubular glass or plastic bead sewn onto clothes as a decorative trim.

adj

jet-black

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Late Latin bugulus (“a woman's ornament”), probably from Latin būculus.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "bugulus",
        "4": "",
        "5": "a woman's ornament"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin bugulus (“a woman's ornament”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "būculus"
      },
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    }
  ],
  "links": [
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      "glosses": [
        "jet-black"
      ],
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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
noun

A plant in the family Lamiaceae grown as a ground cover Ajuga reptans, and other plants in the genus Ajuga.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English bugle (“bugleweed”), from Anglo-Norman and Old French bugle, from Medieval Latin bugilla, probably related to Late Latin bugillo.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionbugleenm · bugleweed
  • Derivation mentionbuglefro
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for bugle →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YnVnbGU