holus-bolus

English

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly of Ancient Greek origin, from ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) and βόλος (bólos, “a throw with a casting net”), or βῶλος (bôlos, “lump”). May have been Latinized (i.e., -us ending as in masculine singular in Latin, as opposed to -os ending for masculine singular in Greek).

Adverb

holus-bolus (not comparable)

1. All together; entirely; without modification.

   to accept a story holus-bolus.

   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     I’ll take it on my shoulders, holus bolus, blame and shame, my boy; but stay here, I cannot let you. Jump! One jump, and you’re out, and we’ll run for it like antelopes.

Translations

all together, unmodified

• Bulgarian: наведнъж (bg) (navednǎž)
• Czech: vcelku (cs)
• Italian: in toto (it)
• Spanish: completamente (es), totalmente (es)