bula

bula

1. inflection of bulë:
   1. definite nominative singular
   2. indefinite nominative/accusative plural

From bul (“sex”) +‎ -a (“-er”).

bula (plural bula dem, quantified bula)

1. homosexual male

Compare Malay bola.

• IPA^(key): /bula/
• Hyphenation: bu‧la

bula

1. ball (spherical object for playing games)
2. (colloquial) football (UK), soccer (US)

• bula sipak (“football”)

• buwa

From Proto-Austronesian *bujeq (via Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bujeq).^[1]

bulà (Badlit spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. bubble
2. froth; foam
3. lather
4. coconut apple; coconut embryo

bulâ (Badlit spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. to bubble
2. to lather; to cover with suds; to lather up
3. to form or emit foam
4. to spew saliva as foam, to foam at the mouth
5. to create froth in (a liquid)

bulâ (Badlit spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. bubbly

bula

1. plenty; a lot

Borrowed from Tagalog bula.

• IPA^(key): /buˈlaʔ/, [buˈlaʔ]
• Hyphenation: bu‧la

bulâ

1. (Cotabateño, Ternateño, Zamboangueño) bubble

   Synonym: (Caviteño) espuma

From Proto-Central Pacific *wola, from Proto-Oceanic *wola, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *woda, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *wada, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wada (“to exist”).

Sense of “to save money” is a calque of English save.

• IPA^(key): /ᵐbu.la/

bula!

1. hello!, hi! (greeting)

   Synonyms: bula vinaka, (Western Fiji) cola vina, (Cakau) bula vina'a, (Nasavusavu, Wailevu, Bua) bula re, (Macuata) bula sia, (Lau) sa malo

2. cheers! (toast when drinking)

bula (intransitive, transitive)

1. to live, to be alive

   Au bula tiko e Nasese.

   I live in Nasese.

2. to exist, to be in existence

   E bula tiko na kalou.

   God exists.

3. (by extension, money) to save (to accumulate money)

   E rawa ni bula e $3.9 milioni.

   It is possible to save $3.9 million [i.e. by reducing the size of the civil service].

bula

1. life

   E kauta mai na marau na bula.

   Life brings happiness.

2. (biology) living thing, organism

   Synonym: veika bula

   Na veika bula kece e tiko na kedra bibi.

   All living things have their importance.

bula

1. live, living, alive

   Antonym: mate

   E bula tiko na nomu ika?

   Is your fish still alive?

2. erect, aroused (of the penis)

   Sa bula na baci ni tagane.

   The man's [circumcised] penis is erect.

   Synonym: droi

   Antonym: mate

3. (by extension, money) cash

   ilavo bula

   cash money

• Gatty, Ronald (2009), “bula”, in Fijian–English Dictionary‎^[1], Suva, Fiji: Ronald Gatty, →ISBN, pages 30–1

• IPA^(key): [ˈbulɐ]

Probably from a Celtic substrate language, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷew- (“excrement; dung”) or Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”); compare bosta, bouta, busto.

bula f (plural bulas)

1. (uncountable) dung, manure (of cattle)

   Synonym: bosta

2. platter, an individual cow dung

   Synonym: bosta

• buleira

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document; bull”), from Latin bulla (“bubble, rounded object”). Doublet of bóla and bola.

• bulda, buldra

bula f (plural bulas)

1. bull (document)

bula

1. inflection of bulir:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “bulla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “bula”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “bula”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “bula”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “bula”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Of uncertain origin. Possibly related to the archaic bulya (“Turkish woman; concubine”),^[1] from Serbo-Croatian бу̏ла / bȕla (“a Muslim woman in harem pants or covered with a headscarf; a married woman”), from Ottoman Turkish بولا (bola, bula, “wife of one’s paternal uncle; lady, miss”).^[2] Alternatively, borrowed from Romani bulǎ, plural of bul (“ass, buttocks”) (compare Romanian bul (“ass, buttocks”) (slang)), from Sanskrit बुलि (buli, “vagina, anus”).^[3]

• IPA^(key): [ˈbulɒ]
• Hyphenation: bu‧la
• Rhymes: -lɒ

bula (plural bulák)

1. (slang, somewhat vulgar) (woman's) ass, buttocks or vulva
2. (slang, somewhat vulgar) woman, girl

• bula in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2026).

• IPA^(key): /bulaʔ/

bula

1. to lie

• pemula

bula f

1. lady, madam

• bulisa

• bule

From bule (“bulge”), from Middle Low German būle, from Proto-Germanic *būlō (“boil”). Doublet of bolna.

• IPA^(key): /bʉːla/

bula (present tense bular, past tense bula, past participle bula, passive infinitive bulast, present participle bulande, imperative bula/bul)

1. to bulge, to swell

• bula ut

bula

1. abundant, plentiful
2. many

• 1853, Rosendo Salvado, The Salvado Memoirs (1977 edition edited by E. J. Storman)

From Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”)

• IPA^(key): /ˈbu.lɑ/
• Rhymes: -u.lɑ

bula m

1. bull

Weak:

• bulluc

• Middle English: bole, bule, bul, bolle, boule, bool, boole
  • English: bull
  • Scots: bul, bull

From Spanish volar and Portuguese voar, Portuguese pular and Kabuverdianu bua.

bula

1. to fly
2. to jump

Borrowed from French boule. First attested in 1613.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈbu.la/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ula
• Syllabification: bu‧la

bula f

1. boule (one of the bowls used in the French game of boules)
2. protuberance (bulge of some surface)

   Synonyms: wybrzuszenie, wypukłość

• “bula”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “bula”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “bula”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “bula”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “bula”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 232

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document; bull”), from Latin bulla (“bubble, rounded object”). Doublet of bola and bolha.

• Hyphenation: bu‧la

bula f (plural bulas)

1. bull (document)
2. (pharmacy) medication package insert (document that provides information about a drug and its use)

   Synonym: leitura

bula

1. inflection of bulir:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative
2. inflection of bolir:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

• “bula”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “bula”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• bella (Sursilvan)
• pula (Surmiran)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

bula f (plural bulas)

1. (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan) butterfly, moth

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) spler
• (Rumantsch Grischun) tgiralla
• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran) tschitta
• (Puter) chüralla
• (Vallader) splerin

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بولا (bola, bula, “wife of one’s paternal uncle; lady, miss”).

• IPA^(key): /bûla/
• Hyphenation: bu‧la

bȕla f (Cyrillic spelling бу̏ла)

1. (colloquial) a Muslim woman in harem pants or covered with a headscarf
2. (colloquial) a married woman

Borrowed from Latin bulla (“bubble”).

• IPA^(key): /bǔla/
• Hyphenation: bu‧la

bùla f (Cyrillic spelling бу̀ла)

1. (medicine) bull (blister, vesicle, or other thin-walled cavity or lesion)
2. (anatomy) an empty space

From bȕla (the first etymology).

• IPA^(key): /bǔːla/
• Hyphenation: bu‧la

búla f (Cyrillic spelling бу́ла)

1. (Islam) Islamic religion teacher
2. (Islam) Islamic clerk or official

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bulla.

• IPA^(key): /bûla/
• Hyphenation: bu‧la

bȕla f (Cyrillic spelling бу̏ла)

1. bull (seal affixed to a document)
2. (by metonymy) charter with such bull
3. a box in which a seal is stored

• “bula”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026
• “bula”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026
• “bula”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026
• “bula”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

From Proto-Bantu *-dùguda.

bula

1. to open

   Antonym: kwala

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document; bull”), from Latin bulla (“bubble, rounded object”). Doublet of bola and bolla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbula/ [ˈbu.la]
• Rhymes: -ula
• Syllabification: bu‧la

bula f (plural bulas)

1. bull (document)
2. strength
3. (obsolete) bubble

   Synonym: burbuja

• “bula”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Likely from Middle Low German būle, from Proto-Germanic *būlō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell up”).

Doublet of ballong, boll, bolster, bulle, bälg, and bölja, and probably böld. Compare Norwegian Nynorsk bule and bole, Dutch buil, German Beule, English boil.

bula c

1. a bulge, a bump (small, round, hard, tender swelling, especially one caused by a strike or blow)

   Jag slog i huvudet i skåpdörren och fick en bula

   I hit my head on the cabinet door and got a bump

2. a bulge (smooth outward bend more generally, due to internal pressure or the like)

   Folk gav honom komplimanger för hans stora bula

   People complimented him on his big bulge

• bulen
• bulna

• bukta

• “bula”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “bula”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “bula”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• bula in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

Derivation unknown. Possibly either from the following:

• From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *budaq^[1]
• From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bujəq, from Proto-Austronesian *bujəq,^[2]
• Borrowed from Spanish bula (“bubble”). The word burbuja has since displaced bula (“bubble”) in Spanish, then the old meaning could have remained in Tagalog if borrowed.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /buˈlaʔ/ [bʊˈlaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: bu‧la
• Homophone: Bula

bulâ (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. foam; bubble; suds

   Synonyms: espuma, ampolya, (obsolete) subo

2. foaming saliva caused by disease or great excitement

Unknown. Possibly from Malay bolak (“prevarication”). Alternatively, possibly from Hokkien 誣賴 / 诬赖 (bû-lōa, “to falsely incriminate”), according to Manuel (1948). Compare Iban bula, Central Bikol buwa and Masbatenyo buwa. See also Brunei Malay bula-bula (“inconsistent; unbelievable; nonsensical”).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbulaʔ/ [ˈbuː.lɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -ulaʔ
• Syllabification: bu‧la

bulà (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. lie; falsehood; fib

   Synonyms: kabulaanan, kasinungalingan

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bulah, from Proto-Austronesian *buləS (“Shorea albus”).^[3]

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /buˈla/ [bʊˈla]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: bu‧la

bulá (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. Philippine mahogany (Toona calantas)

   Synonym: kalantas

Borrowed from Spanish bula (“bull”), from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document; bull”), from Latin bulla (“bubble, rounded object”). Doublet of bola.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbula/ [ˈbuː.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ula
• Syllabification: bu‧la

bula (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. bull (document)

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbulaʔ/ [ˈbuː.lɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -ulaʔ
• Syllabification: bu‧la

bulà (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ) (obsolete)

1. scaring of crows

bulà (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ) (obsolete)

1. word used for scaring crows away: shoo

• “bula”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613), Vocabulario de lengua tagala. El romance castellano puesto primero. Primera, y segunda parte.‎^[4] (overall work in Early Modern Spanish and Classical Tagalog), as directed by Gov. Gen. Juan de Silva, Pila, Laguna: La noble Villa de Pila, por Tomás Pinpin y Domingo Loag.
  • page 304: “Eſpantar) Bula [(pp)] cueruos repitiendo eſta palabra”
  • page 308: “Eſpuma) Bula (pc) T. dela olla o de otra coſa”
• Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948), Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 18

• baul

• IPA^(key): [ˈbu.la]

bula

1. a part, piece, component

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-bula^?

1. (transitive) to confess

   Synonym: -xela

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

bulá

1. boar