Bulgaria (n.)

nation in southeastern Europe, Medieval Latin, from Bulgari "Bulgarians," traditionally explained as "the men from the Bolg," the River Volga, upon whose banks they lived until 6c. But evidence is wanting, and the people's name for themselves in Old Bulgarian was Blugarinu, according to OED and Century Dictionary, which suggests a different origin. In other sources [such as Room], the name is said to be ultimately from Turkic bulga "mixed," in reference to the nature of this people of Turko-Finnish extraction but Slavic language.

Entries linking to Bulgaria

bugger (n.)

"sodomite," 1550s, earlier "heretic" (mid-14c.), from Medieval Latin Bulgarus "a Bulgarian" (see Bulgaria), so called from bigoted notions of the sex lives of Eastern Orthodox Christians or of the sect of heretics that was prominent there 11c. Compare Old French bougre "Bulgarian," also "heretic; sodomite."

The softened secondary sense of "fellow, chap," is in British English "low language" [OED] from mid-19c. The meaning "something unpleasant, a nuisance" is from 1936. Related: Buggerly.

The religious heretics in question were the Bogomils, whose name is a Slavic compound meaning "dear to God" (compare Russian bog "god") and might be a translation of Greek theophilos.

Bulgar (n.)

1759, "inhabitant of Bulgaria; member of an ancient Finnich people which settled in what is now Bulgaria" (Bulgarian is attested from 1550s), from Medieval Latin Bulgarus (see Bulgaria).

Bulgarian (n.)

"native or resident of Bulgaria," 1550s, from Bulgaria + -ian. As an adjective, Bulgaric has been used in the sense "of or pertaining to the ancient Bulgars" and their modern relatives the Mordvins and Cheremissians of the Volga.

Trends of Bulgaria

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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Cyrillic

Cyril's pupil, Clement, first bishop of Bulgaria. The Russian alphabet is a slight modification of it....

Europe

from Latin Europa "Europe," from Greek Europe, which is of uncertain origin; as a geographic name first recorded in the Homeric hymn to Apollo (522 B.C.E. or earlier): "Telphusa, here I am minded to make a glorious temple, an oracle for men, and hither they will always bring per

Sofia

Bulgarian capital, Roman Serdica, from the Thracian Serdi people who lived thereabouts. Conquered by the Bulgarians 9c. who altered the name by folk-etymology to Sredeti, which in their tongue meant "center, middle." It got its current name 14c. when the Turks conquered it and co

drive

Old English drifan "to compel or urge to move, impel in some direction or manner; to hunt (deer), pursue; to rush against" (class I strong verb; past tense draf, past participle drifen), from Proto-Germanic *dreibanan (source also of Old Frisian driva "I lead, impel, drive (away)

bathroom

also bath-room, 1780, from bath + room (n.). Originally a room with apparatus for bathing (the only definition in "Century Dictionary," 1902); it came to be used 20c. in U.S. as a euphemism for a lavatory and often is noted as a word that confuses British travelers. To go to the

advocate

mid-14c., "one whose profession is to plead cases in a court of justice," a technical term from Roman law, from Old French avocat "barrister, advocate, spokesman," from Latin advocatus "one called to aid (another); a pleader (on one's behalf), advocate," noun use of past particip

concern

early 15c., of persons, "to perceive, distinguish;" also, of things, "to refer to, relate to, pertain to," from Old French concerner (15c.) and directly from Medieval Latin concernere "concern, touch, belong to," figurative use of Late Latin concernere "to sift, mix as in a sieve

perpendicular

late 15c., perpendiculer, of a line, "lying at right angles to the horizon" (in astronomy, navigation, etc.), from an earlier adverb (late 14c.), "at right angles to the horizon," from Old French perpendiculer, from Late Latin perpendicularis "vertical, as a plumb line," from Lat

Tuesday

third day of the week, Old English tiwesdæg, from Tiwes, genitive of Tiw "Tiu," from Proto-Germanic *Tiwaz "god of the sky," the original supreme deity of ancient Germanic mythology, differentiated specifically as Tiu, ancient Germanic god of war, from PIE *deiwos "god," from roo

epiphany

early 14c., "festival of the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles" (celebrated Jan. 6; usually with a capital -E-), from Old French epiphanie, from Late Latin epiphania, neuter plural (taken as feminine singular), from late Greek epiphaneia "manifestation, striking appearance,

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updated on October 26, 2022

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