bolus

See also: Bolus and bolús

English

Etymology

From Late Latin bōlus (“clod of earth, lump”), plural bōlī, from Ancient Greek βῶλος (bôlos, “clod, lump”). Doublet of bole.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbəʊləs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -əʊləs

Noun

bolus (plural boli or boluses)

1. A round mass of something, especially of chewed food in the mouth or alimentary canal.
2. A single, large dose of a drug, especially one in that form.
   • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

     I gave him a bolus, twice the size of a gooseberry.

Usage notes

• Boli is the somewhat more common plural form of bolus in scholarly use.

Derived terms

• prebolus

Translations

round mass of food

• Finnish: pallero (fi)
• French: bol (fr) m, bol alimentaire (fr) m
• Hungarian: falat (hu)
• Italian: bolo (it) m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: loq (ku)

• Portuguese: bolo (pt) m
• Spanish: bolo alimenticio (es) m

large dose of a drug

• Portuguese: bólus (pt) m
• Spanish: bolo (es) m

Verb

bolus (third-person singular simple present boluses, present participle bolusing, simple past and past participle bolused)

1. (transitive) To administer (a drug) in bolus dosing, that is, dosing in (one or more) boluses.
2. (intransitive) To take a bolus (dose) of insulin at a mealtime in order to control one's blood glucose level in diabetes.

   Coordinate term: prebolus

See also

• holus-bolus

Further reading

• bolus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Loubs, bouls, lobus

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboː.lʏs/
• Hyphenation: bo‧lus

Etymology 1

Generally regarded as borrowed from Yiddish [Term?], from Ladino [Term?], from Spanish bollo or bola.

Noun

bolus m (plural bolussen, diminutive bolusje n)

1. A sweet, soft pastry containing cinnamon from Zeeland, originating from European Jewish cuisine.
2. (colloquial, Netherlands, by extension) A turd, a pat.

Alternative forms

• bole (dated)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin bōlus, from Ancient Greek βῶλος (bôlos).

Noun

bolus m or f (plural bolussen)

1. A type of fat clay.

   Synonym: bool

Hyponyms

• zegelaarde

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbolus/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

bolus

1. conditional of boli

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βόλος (bólos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.lus/, [ˈbɔɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.lus/, [ˈbɔːlus]

Noun

bolus m (genitive bolī); second declension

1. A throw (of the dice); a cast (of a fishing net)
2. A gain, profit, or advantage

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bolus	bolī
Genitive	bolī	bolōrum
Dative	bolō	bolīs
Accusative	bolum	bolōs
Ablative	bolō	bolīs
Vocative	bole	bolī

References

• “bolus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “bolus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers