- bulk
- mid-15c., from O.N. bulki "a heap, ship's cargo," thus "goods loaded loose," perhaps lit. "rolled-up load," from P.Gmc. *bul-, from PIE *bhl-, from base *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole). Meaning extended by confusion with obsolete bouk "belly" (from O.E. buc, from P.Gmc. *bukaz, from PIE root meaning "to swell"), which led to sense of "size," first attested mid-15c.