gull

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See also: Gull

English

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A gull.

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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Inherited from Middle English gulle, from a Brythonic language (compare Breton gouelan, Welsh gwylan, and Cornish goolan), from Proto-Brythonic *gwuɨlann, from Proto-Celtic *wēlannā (“seagull”).

Cognate with Old Irish faílenn, Scottish Gaelic faoileag. Compare French goéland, a borrowing from Breton. Eclipsed Middle English lare (borrowed from Latin larus) and Middle English mewe (from Old English mæw).

Noun

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gull (plural gulls)

  1. A seabird of the genus Larus or of the family Laridae.
    Synonyms: mew, seabird, seagull, seamew
    • 1947 January–February, O. S. Nock, “‘The Aberdonian’ in Wartime”, in The Railway Magazine‎[1], volume 93, number 567, page 8:
      The tide was out, and we drew up amid the strong bracing smell of seaweed, with gulls screeching, wheeling around, and gliding on the wind.
    • 1970, Richard Bach, “Part One”, in Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A Story, Macmillan; republished as complete edition, Scribner, 2014 October 21, →ISBN, page 4:
      Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight—how to get from shore to food and back again. […] For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.
  2. Any of various pierid butterflies of the genus Cepora.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Perhaps from an obsolete term gull (“to swallow, guzzle”), from Middle English golen (“to make swallowing motions, gape”).[1]

Noun

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gull (plural gulls)

  1. (slang) A cheating trick; a fraud.
    • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
      BENEDICK. [Aside] I should think this a gull, but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it: knavery cannot, sure, hide itself in such reverence.
  2. A stupid animal.
  3. One easily cheated; a dupe.
  4. (obsolete, Oxford University slang) A swindler or trickster.
    • 1825, Bernard Blackmantle, 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
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Verb

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

  2. To deceive or cheat.
  3. (US, slang) To mislead.
  4. (US, slang) To trick and defraud.
  5. (dialectal) To flatter, wheedle.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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From Middle English gole (“a whirlpool, narrow inlet of the sea, ditch or stream”), from Middle Low German goel, gȫl, gȫle (“swamp, marshy lowland”), related to Old Dutch gulla (“pool, puddle”), Old French goille (“pool, puddle, pond”), all ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *goli, *golljā (“puddle”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *guljaz, *guljǭ.

Alternative forms

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Noun

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gull (plural gulls)

  1. (dialectal) A breach or hole made by the force of a torrent; fissure, chasm.
  2. (dialectal) A channel made by a stream; a natural watercourse; running water.
Derived terms
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Verb

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

  1. (dialectal) To sweep away by the force of running water; to carve or wear into a gully.

References

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

Further reading

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Faroese

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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gull n (genitive singular guls, uncountable)

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

Declension

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

Icelandic

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Icelandic Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia is
Chemical element
Au
Previous: platína (Pt)
Next: kvikasilfur (Hg)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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Declension of gull (neuter)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative gull gullið gull gullin
accusative gull gullið gull gullin
dative gulli gullinu gullum gullunum
genitive gulls gullsins gulla gullanna

Derived terms

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nb

Etymology

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From Danish guld (pre-1907 Riksmål spelling), from Old Norse gull, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gull n (definite singular gullet, uncountable)

  1. gold

Derived terms

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gull n (definite singular gullet, uncountable)

  1. gold

Derived terms

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References

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Old Norse

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FWOTD – 11 February 2014

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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

Noun

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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

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  Declension of gull (strong a-stem)
neuter singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative gull gullit gull gullin
accusative gull gullit gull gullin
dative gulli gullinu gullum gullunum
genitive gulls gullsins gulla gullanna

Derived terms

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Terms derived from gull

Descendants

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

References

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  • “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

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Noun

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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

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  • 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

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Declension of gull
nominative genitive
singular indefinite gull gulls
definite gullet gullets
plural indefinite gull gulls
definite gullen gullens
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