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bu·gle¹

(bygəl)

1. Music A brass instrument somewhat shorter than a trumpet and lacking keys or valves.

2. The loud resonant call of an animal, especially a male elk during rutting season.

intr.v. bu·gled, bu·gling, bu·gles

1. Music To sound a bugle.

2. To produce a loud resonant call, as of a rutting male elk.

[Middle English, wild ox, hunting horn made from the horn of a wild ox, from Old French, steer, from Latin būculus, diminutive of bōs, ox; see g^wou- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

bugler n.

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bugle1

bu·gle²

(bygəl)

A tubular glass or plastic bead that is used to trim clothing.

[Origin unknown.]

bu·gle³

(bygəl)

Any of several creeping Old World herbs of the genus Ajuga in the mint family, having opposite leaves, square stems, and terminal spikes of purplish to white flowers. Also called bugleweed.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin būgula (perhaps influenced by būglōssa, bugloss), from Latin būgillō.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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