bulk

C1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /bʌlk/ See IPA manual

Freq #10737

Meanings

1

noun
The largest part or majority of something.

The bulk of the work was finished before lunch.
2

noun
Large size, mass, or volume.

Buying supplies in bulk saves money in the long run.
3

noun
A large, heavy body or shape.

He squeezed his huge bulk through the narrow doorway.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · large size, mass, or volume. mass

Word family

Forms bulkedbulkingbulks

Derived forms break-bulkbulk-upbulkagebulkenbulkishbulklikebulksomebulkwisedebulkmicrobulkoutbulkoverbulk

Related forms bulkerbulkheadbulky

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English bulk, bolke (“a heap, cargo, hold; heap; bulge”), borrowed from Old Norse búlki (“the freight or the cargo of a ship”), from Proto-Germanic *bulkô (“beam, pile, heap”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“beam, pile, prop”). Compare Icelandic búlkast (“to be bulky”), Swedish dialectal bulk (“a bunch”), Danish bulk (“bump, knob”). Conflated with Middle English bouk (“belly, trunk”).

*bʰelǵ- Proto-Indo-European bulk Middle English búlki Old Norse *bulkô Proto-Germanic bouk Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# bulk

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /bʌlk/
**Frequency rank:** 10737

## Meanings
1. The largest part or majority of something.
2. Large size, mass, or volume.
3. A large, heavy body or shape.

## Examples
- The bulk of the work was finished before lunch.
- Buying supplies in bulk saves money in the long run.
- He squeezed his huge bulk through the narrow doorway.

## Derived Forms
- break-bulk
- bulk-up
- bulkage
- bulken
- bulkish
- bulklike
- bulksome
- bulkwise
- debulk
- microbulk
- outbulk
- overbulk

## Related Forms
- bulker
- bulkhead
- bulky

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰelǵ-
- Root: bulk
- Root: búlki
- Root: *bulkô
- Root: bouk

## Etymology
From Middle English bulk, bolke (“a heap, cargo, hold; heap; bulge”), borrowed from Old Norse búlki (“the freight or the cargo of a ship”), from Proto-Germanic *bulkô (“beam, pile, heap”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“beam, pile, prop”). Compare Icelandic búlkast (“to be bulky”), Swedish dialectal bulk (“a bunch”), Danish bulk (“bump, knob”). Conflated with Middle English bouk (“belly, trunk”).

## AI Etymology
Bulk is from Middle English bulk, bolke (“a heap, cargo, hold; heap; bulge”), borrowed from Old Norse búlki (“the freight or the cargo of a ship”), from Proto-Germanic *bulkô (“beam, pile, heap”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“beam, pile, prop”). Compare Icelandic búlkast (“to be bulky”), Swedish dialectal bulk (“a bunch”), Danish bulk (“bump, knob”). Conflated with Middle English bouk (“belly, trunk”). In present-day use, it can mean the largest part or majority of something, or large size, mass, or volume. Derived formations include break-bulk, bulk-up, bulkage, bulken, and bulkish.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

markdown