boiler

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ˈbɔɪlər/ UK /ˈbɔɪlə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a vessel or apparatus for heating water or generating steam

The old boiler in the basement clanked all winter long.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a vessel or apparatus for... heater furnace kettle copper cauldron

Word family

Derived forms boilerplateboilermakerboilerroom

Related forms boil boiling boiled

Etymology

From boil + -er (agent/instrument suffix). Boil derives from Middle English boilen, from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre ('to bubble, boil'), from bulla ('bubble').

bullīre Latin bulla Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# boiler

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbɔɪlər/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbɔɪlə/

## Meanings
1. a vessel or apparatus for heating water or generating steam

## Examples
- The old boiler in the basement clanked all winter long.

## Synonyms
- heater
- furnace
- kettle
- copper
- cauldron

## Derived Forms
- boilerplate
- boilermaker
- boilerroom

## Related Forms
- boil
- boiling
- boiled

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

## Etymology
From boil + -er (agent/instrument suffix). Boil derives from Middle English boilen, from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre ('to bubble, boil'), from bulla ('bubble').

## AI Etymology
Boiler comes from boil + -er (agent/instrument suffix). Boil derives from Middle English boilen, from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre ('to bubble, boil'), from bulla ('bubble'). The historical trail runs through bullīre in Latin and bulla in Latin. Morphologically, boiler is transparent: it draws on boil + -er (agent/instrument suffix). Used as a noun, boiler now means "a vessel or apparatus for heating water or generating steam", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as boilerplate, boilermaker, and boilerroom and related forms such as boil, boiling, and boiled. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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