aboil

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /əˈbɔɪl/ UK /əˈbɔɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
in a state of boiling or agitation

The whole town was aboil with rumors of the coming election.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · in a state of boiling or... boilingseethingbubblingagitatedsimmering

Opposites

calm still placid

Word family

Related forms boilaboiling

Etymology

From a- ('in a state of') + boil, the verb from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre ('to bubble, boil'), from bulla ('bubble').

bullīre Latin bulla Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# aboil

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /əˈbɔɪl/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈbɔɪl/

## Meanings
1. in a state of boiling or agitation

## Examples
- The whole town was aboil with rumors of the coming election.

## Synonyms
- boiling
- seething
- bubbling
- agitated
- simmering

## Antonyms
- calm
- still
- placid

## Related Forms
- boil
- aboiling

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bullīre
- Root: bulla

## Etymology
From a- ('in a state of') + boil, the verb from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre ('to bubble, boil'), from bulla ('bubble').

## AI Etymology
aboil comes from a- ('in a state of') + boil, the verb from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre ('to bubble, boil'), from bulla ('bubble'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the adjective sense is "in a state of boiling or agitation", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as boil, aboiling, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Latin bullīre, Latin bulla, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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