gull

See also: Gull

English

A gull

Pronunciation

  • enPR: gŭl, IPA(key): /ˈɡʌl/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌl

Etymology 1

From Middle English gulle, from a Brythonic language, from Proto-Brythonic *gwuɨlann, from Proto-Celtic *wēlannā (seagull). Cognate with Welsh gwylan, Cornish goolan, Breton gouelan, Old Irish faílenn, Scottish Gaelic faoileag. Compare French goéland, a borrowing from Breton.

Noun

gull (plural gulls)

  1. A seabird of the genus Larus or of the family Laridae.
  2. Any of various pierid butterflies of the genus Cepora.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Perhaps from an obsolete term gull (swallow).[1]

Noun

gull (plural gulls)

  1. (slang) A cheating trick; a fraud.
  2. One easily cheated; a dupe.
  3. (obsolete, Oxford University slang) A swindler or trickster.
    • 1825, Blackmantle, Bernard, The English Spy:
      You'll excuse me, sir, but as you are fresh, take care to avoid the gulls; they fly about here in large flocks, I assure you, and do no little mischief at times." "I never understood that gulls were birds of prey," said I.—"Only in Oxford, sir; and here, I assure you, they bite like hawks, and pick many a poor young gentleman as bare before his three years are expired, as the crows would a dead sheep upon a common. [] "
Synonyms

Verb

gull (third-person singular simple present gulls, present participle gulling, simple past and past participle gulled)

  1. To deceive or cheat.
    • 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: [] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, [], published 1612, OCLC 1008120557; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, OCLC 52009618, (please specify the page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      O, but to ha' gulled him / Had been a mastery.
    • 1660, John Dryden, Astraea Redux
      The vulgar, gulled into rebellion, armed.
    • c. 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wallenstein
      I'm not gulling him for the emperor's service.
    • 1819, John Keats, Otho the Great, Act IV, Scene I, verse 162-165
      [] speak your curses out
      Against me, who would sooner crush and grind
      A brace of toads, than league with them to oppress
      An innocent lady, gull an Emperor []
    • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
      She has done these things before and remembers now that she is good at them, often steadier than the men. In Berlin when Jack needed a spare girl Mary had kept watch, gulled room keys out of concierges, replaced stolen documents in dangerous desks, driven scared Joes to safe flats.
  2. (US, slang) To mislead.
  3. (US, slang) To trick and defraud.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

References

  1. gull”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Further reading


Faroese

Chemical element
Au
Previous: hvítagull, platin (Pt)
Next: kyksilvur, kviksilvur (Hg)

Etymology

From Old Norse gull, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kʊtl/

Noun

gull n (genitive singular guls, uncountable)

  1. gold
  2. (in proverbs) richness, money, livestock
  3. gold medal, first place (sports, etc.)

Declension

n9s Singular
Indefinite Definite
Nominative gull gullið
Accusative gull gullið
Dative gulli gullinum
Genitive guls gulsins

Icelandic

Chemical element
Au
Previous: platína (Pt)
Next: kvikasilfur (Hg)

Etymology

From Old Norse gull (gold), from Proto-Germanic *gulþą.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kʏtl/
  • Rhymes: -ʏtl

Noun

gull n (genitive singular gulls, nominative plural gull)

  1. (uncountable) gold (chemical element)
  2. (countable) a cherished thing
  3. (countable) a gold medal or prize

Declension

Derived terms


Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse gull, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡʉlː/

Noun

gull n (definite singular gullet, uncountable)

  1. gold

Derived terms

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

  • goillj (eye dialect, Trøndelag)
  • goill (eye dialect, Trøndelag)

Etymology

From Old Norse gull and goll, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą. Akin to English gold.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡʉlː/

Noun

gull n (definite singular gullet, uncountable)

  1. gold

Derived terms

References


Old Norse

FWOTD – 11 February 2014

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gulþą (gold). Cognate with Old English gold, Old Frisian gold, Old Saxon gold, Old Dutch golt, Old High German gold, Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐌻𐌸 (gulþ). See also Finnish kulta. Ultimately from Pre-Germanic *ǵʰl̥tóm (gold), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (yellow; gleam; to shine).

Pronunciation

  • (12th century Icelandic) IPA(key): /ˈɡulː/

Noun

gull n (genitive gulls, plural gull)

  1. (uncountable, singular only) gold
  2. (countable) a jewel, thing of value, especially a finger-ring
    • Stjórn 78, in 1862, C. R. Unger, Stjórn: gammelnorsk Bibelhistorie: fra Verdens Skabelse til det babyloniske Fangenskab. Christiania, page 254:
      Enn þegar sem hon bar þetta gull, []
      But when she wore that ring, []

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Icelandic: gull n
  • Faroese: gull n
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gull n
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gull n
  • Westrobothnian: gull n
  • Old Swedish: gull n
  • Old Danish:
  • Gutnish: gull n

References

  • gull”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • gull in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
  • gull in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.

Swedish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Norse gull, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą.

Noun

gull n

  1. (poetic, archaic) gold
    Har du silver har du gull, / har du kistorna full?
    Do you have silver and gold, / are your treasure chests full? (song lyrics)
    Wilt thw wara tik sielffuir hull, / tw älska friiheet meer än gull (Old Swedish, poem by bishop Tomas, 1439)
    Vill du vara dig själver huld, / du älska frihet mer än guld (translated to standard Swedish)
    If you want to help yourself, you should love freedom more than gold
  2. (colloquial) baby, darling, someone dear and cute (gullig), someone to cuddle (gulla med)
    mina små gull
    my little darlings
    Kom nu gullet, det är finfint väder ute
    Come on baby, it's a perfect sunny day

Usage notes

  • The form gull is archaic or poetic outside compound words and fixed expressions, where it has taken the sense of beloved or favorable as in gullgosse (golden boy), gullegris (darling, pet), gullunge (beloved child), etc.

Declension

Declension of gull 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative gull gullet gull gullen
Genitive gulls gullets gulls gullens

Westrobothnian

Etymology

From Old Norse gull, goll, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą.

Noun

gull n (definite gullä)

  1. (uncountable) gold
    hä glema som hä wor gullä
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

  • gullfinger
  • gullskre
  • gulltypp
  • gyllerfeinger
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