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BULL . (I) The male of animals belonging to the See also: section Bovina of the See also:family See also:Bovidae (q.v.), particularly the uncastrated male of the domestic ox (Bostaurus). (See See also:CATTLE.) The word, which is found in M.E. as See also:bole, belle (cf. Ger. Bulle, and Dutch bul or bol), is also used of the See also:males of other animals of large See also:size, e.g. the See also:elephant, See also:whale, &c. The O.E. diminutive See also:form bulluc, meaning originally a See also:young bull, or bull See also:calf, survives in See also:bullock, now confined to a young castrated male ox kept for slaughter for See also:beef. On the See also:London and New See also:York stock exchanges " bull " and " See also:bear " are correlative technical See also:slang terms. A " bull " is one who " See also:buys for a rise," i.e. he buys See also:stocks or securities, See also:grain or other commodities (which, however, he never intends to take up), in the See also:hope that before the date on which he must take delivery he will be able to sell the stocks, &c., at a higher See also:price, taking as a profit the difference between the buying and selling price. A " bear " is the See also:reverse of a " bull." He is one who" sells fora fall," i.e. he sells stock, &c., which he does not actually possess, in the hope of buying it at a See also:lower price before the See also:time at which he has contracted to deliver (see See also:ACCOUNT; STOCK See also:EXCHANGE). The word " bull," according to the New See also:English See also:Dictionary, was used in this sense as See also:early as the beginning of the 18th See also:century. The origin of the use is not known, though it is tempting to connect it with the See also:fable of the fro; and the bull_ The See also:term " bull's See also:eye " is applied to many circular See also:objects, and particularly to the See also:boss or protuberance See also:left in the centre of a See also:sheet of blown See also:glass. This when cut off was formerly used for windows in small leaded panes.The See also: French term oil de bteuf is used of a circular window. Other circular objects to which the word is applied are the centre of a See also:target or a shot that hits the central See also:division of the target, a plano-See also:convex See also:lens in a See also:microscope, a See also:lantern with a convex glass in it, a thick circular piece of glass let into the See also:deck or See also:side of a See also:ship, &c., for See also:lighting the interior, a See also:ring-shaped See also:block grooved See also:round the See also:outer edge, and with a hole through the centre through which a rope can be passed, and also a small lurid See also:cloud which in certain latitudes presages a See also:hurricane. (2) The use of the word " bull," for a verbal blunder, involving a See also:contradiction in terms, is of doubtful origin. In this sense it is used with a possible punning reference to papal bulls in See also:Milton's True See also:Religion, " and whereas the Papist boasts himself to be a See also:Roman Catholick, it is a See also:mere contradiction, one of the See also:Pope's Bulls, as if he should say a universal particular, a Catholick schismatick." Probably this use may be traced to a M.E. word bul, first found in the See also:Cursor Mundi, c. 1300, in the sense of falsehood, trickery, deceit; the New English Dictionary compares an 0. Fr. bout, See also:boule or bole, in the same sense. Although See also:modern associations connect this type of blunder with the Irish, possibly owing to the many famous " bulls" attributed to See also:Sir See also:Boyle See also:Roche (q.v.), the early quotations show that in the 17th century, when the meaning now attached to the word begins, no See also:special See also:country was credited with them. (3) Bulla (See also:Lat for bubble "), which gives us another " bull " in English, was the term used by the See also:Romans for any boss or See also:stud, such as those on doors, See also:sword-belts, See also:shields and boxes. It was applied, however, more particularly to an See also:ornament, generally of See also:gold, a round or See also:heart-shaped See also:box containing an See also:amulet, worn suspended from the See also:neck by childern of See also:noble See also:birth until they assumed the toga viru s, when it was hung up and dedicated to the See also:household gods. The See also:custom of wearing the bulla, which was regarded as a See also:charm against sickness and the evil eye, was of See also:Etruscan origin. After the Second Punic See also:War all See also:children of See also:free birth were permitted to See also:wear it; but those who did not belong to a noble or wealthy family were satisfied with a bulla of See also:leather. Its use was only permitted to grown-up men in the See also:case of generals who celebrated a See also:triumph.Young girls (probably till the time of their See also: marriage), and even favourite animals, also wore it (see Ficoroni, La Bella d' Oro, 1732; See also:Yates, Archaeological See also:Journal, vi., 1849; viii., 185r). In ecclesiastical and See also:medieval Latin, bulla denotes the See also:seal of See also:oval or circular form, bearing the name and generally the See also:image of its owner, which was attached to See also:official documents. A See also:metal was used instead of See also:wax in the warm countries of See also:southern See also:Europe. The best-known instances are the papal bullae, which have given their name to the documents (bulls) to which they are attached.Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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