boll 的词源

中世纪英语的 bolle 源自古英语的 bolla，意为“碗、杯、锅，盛液体的圆形容器”。在13世纪，这个词与中荷兰语的 bolle（意为“圆形物体”）合并，两者都源自原始日耳曼语的 *bul-，而其词根则追溯到印欧语系的 *bhel- (2)，意为“吹、膨胀”。这个词的意义还受到拉丁语 bulla（意为“气泡、球”）的影响（参见 bull (n.2)）。

大约在1500年，这个词的意义扩展到了“亚麻或棉花的圆形种荚”。Boll weevil（棉铃虫）因其危害棉花种荚而得名，首次出现于1895年，属于美式英语。

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]

在德克萨斯州南部的西班牙语社区，这种昆虫通常被称为“picudo”，这个名字形象地描述了它的长嘴或喙。英语使用者最初则称其为“sharpshooter”，这个词多年来被用来指任何因刺破植物而导致花蕾脱落或种荚腐烂的昆虫。由于有多种本地昆虫也被称为sharpshooters，尽管它们有害，但与棉铃虫无法相提并论，因此有必要尽一切可能避免将这个词用于棉铃虫。建议将新害虫称为“Mexican cotton-boll weevil”（墨西哥棉铃虫）。[新墨西哥农业与机械学院农业实验站公报第19号，1896年4月]

这是一个关于昆虫学如何影响词源学的有趣案例。