belly

belly
{{11}}belly (n.) O.E. belg, bylg (W.Saxon), bælg (Anglian) "leather bag, purse, bellows," from P.Gmc. *balgiz "bag" (Cf. O.N. belgr "bag, bellows," bylgja "billow," Goth. balgs "wineskin"), from PIE *bholgh-, from root *bhelgh- "to swell," an extension of *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see BOLE (Cf. bole)). Meaning shifted to "body" (late 13c.), then focused to "abdomen" (mid-14c.). Meaning "bulging part or concave surface of anything" is 1590s. The West Germanic root had a figurative or extended sense of "anger, arrogance" (Cf. O.E. bolgenmod "enraged;" belgan (v.) "to become angry").
IE languages commonly use the same word for both the external belly and the internal (stomach, womb, etc.), but the distinction of external and internal is somewhat present in English belly/stomach; Greek gastr- (see GASTRIC (Cf. gastric)) in classical language denoted the paunch or belly, while modern science uses it only in reference to the stomach as an organ. Fastidious avoidance of belly in speech and writing (compensated for by stretching the senses of imported stomach and abdomen, baby-talk tummy and misappropriated midriff) began late 18c. and the word was banished from Bibles in many early 19c. editions.
{{12}}belly (v.) "to swell out," 1620s, from BELLY (Cf. belly) (n.). Related: Bellied; bellying. O.E. belgan meant "to be or become angry" (a figurative sense). A comparable Greek verb-from-noun, gastrizein, meant "to hit (someone) in the belly."

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Belly — Bel ly (b[e^]l l[y^]), n.; pl. {Bellies} ( l[i^]z). [OE. bali, bely, AS. belg, b[ae]lg, b[ae]lig, bag, bellows, belly; akin to Icel. belgr bag, bellows, Sw. b[ a]lg, Dan. b[ae]lg, D. & G. balg, cf. W. bol the paunch or belly, dim. boly, Ir. bolg …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Belly — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Belly Información personal Nombre real Ahmad Balshe …   Wikipedia Español

  • Belly — may refer to: *(slang/colloquial) The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax or, similarly, to the stomach **A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumably caused by regular beer ingestion. **Belly dance… …   Wikipedia

  • Belly — Годы 1991 1996 Страна …   Википедия

  • belly up — {v.}, {informal} To go bankrupt, become afunctional; to die. * /Uncompetitive small businesses must eventually all belly up./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • belly up — {v.}, {informal} To go bankrupt, become afunctional; to die. * /Uncompetitive small businesses must eventually all belly up./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • belly — [bel′ē] n. pl. bellies [ME beli < OE belg, leather bag, purse, bellows < IE base * bhelĝh , to swell, bag (< * bhel , to inflate) > Ir bolg, sack, belly, ON bylgja, billow, Goth balgs, leather bottle] 1. the lower front part of the… …   English World dictionary

  • belly up to — (US sl) To go directly or purposefully towards • • • Main Entry: ↑belly * * * belly up to [phrasal verb] belly up to (someone or something) US, informal : to walk to or toward (someone or something) The men bellied up to the bar. • • • …   Useful english dictionary

  • belly up — el ly up , belly up el ly up , a. [from analogy to the position of a floating dead fish.] defunct; bankrupt; used mostly of commercial organizations; often used in the phrase {go belly up}, i. e. to go bankrupt. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • belly-up — el ly up , belly up el ly up , a. [from analogy to the position of a floating dead fish.] defunct; bankrupt; used mostly of commercial organizations; often used in the phrase {go belly up}, i. e. to go bankrupt. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • belly up — bel‧ly up [ˌbeli ˈʌp] adverb informal FINANCE COMMERCE go belly up if a company goes belly up, it stops trading because it cannot pay its debts …   Financial and business terms

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