boll

英 [bəʊl] 美 [bol]

boll 棉铃

来自PIE *bhel, 膨胀，鼓起。词源同ball.

boll (n.): Old English bolla "bowl, cup, pot," merged with Middle Dutch bolle "round object," borrowed 13c., both from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole). Influenced in meaning by Latin bulla "bubble, ball," ultimately from the same PIE root. Extended c. 1500 to "round seed pod of flax or cotton." Boll weevil is 1895, American English.
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]
A case of entomology meddling in etymology.

1. Boll rot has been attributed to a wide range of organisms.: 棉铃腐烂是由分布范围广泛的微生物引起的.

3. Certain boll shapes and absence of nectarines reduces easy avenues of penetration into the boll.: 某些铃形和无蜜腺减少病菌容易进入棉铃的途径.

4. The cotton grows on the plant as long hairs attached to the seeds inside the boll.: 棉花在植株上作为附着在种籽上的长茸毛在棉铃里生长发育.

5. Farm demonstration work in the South helped to fight the cotton boll weevil.: 南部农场示范工作大大帮助了对棉花象鼻虫的防治.