billowy (adj.)

1610s, from billow (n.) + -y (2). Related: Billowiness.

Entries linking to billowy

"a great wave or surge of the sea," 1550s, perhaps older in dialectal use (but not recorded in Middle English), from Old Norse bylgja "a wave, a billow," from Proto-Germanic *bulgjan (source also of Swedish bölja, Danish bölge "a billow," Middle High German bulge "a billow; a bag"), from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."

-y (2)

adjective suffix, "full of or characterized by," from Old English -ig, from Proto-Germanic *-iga- (source also of Dutch, Danish, German -ig, Gothic -egs), from PIE -(i)ko-, adjectival suffix, cognate with elements in Greek -ikos, Latin -icus (see -ic). Originally added to nouns in Old English; used from 13c. with verbs, and by 15c. even with other adjectives (for example crispy).

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Definitions of billowy

billowy (adj.)

characterized by great swelling waves or surges;

billowy storm clouds

Synonyms: billowing / surging

From wordnet.princeton.edu

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