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bullyEnglish (en) · Unnumbered etymologySource text
From 1530, as a term of endearment, probably a diminutive ( + -y) of Dutch boel (“lover; brother”), from Middle Dutch boel, boele (“brother; lover”), from Old Dutch *buolo, from Proto-Germanic *bōlô (compare Middle Low German bôle (“brother”), Middle High German buole (“brother; close relative; close relation”) (whence German Buhle (“lover”)), Old English Bōla, Bōlla (personal name), diminutive of expressive *bō- (“brother, father”). Compare also Latvian bālinš (“brother”). More at boy. The term acquired a negative connotation during the 17th century; first ‘noisy, blustering fellow’ then ‘a person who is cruel to others’. Possibly influenced by bull (“male cattle”) or via the ‘prostitute's minder’ sense. The positive senses are dated, but survive in phrases such as bully pulpit.
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Chambers (1908)
1908- BullyEnglish · e-37683-3638
Bully, bool′i, n. a blustering, noisy, overbearing fellow: a ruffian hired to beat or intimidate any one: a fellow who lives upon the gains of a prostitute: (obs.) a term of familiarity to either man or woman.—adj. blust
Read the full source record → - BullyEnglish · e-37683-3639
Bully, bool′i, n. a miner's hammer.
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