boll（n.）
中古英语 bolle，源自古英语 bolla “碗，杯，壶，盛液体的圆形容器”，与13世纪合并，与中古荷兰语 bolle “圆形物体”都来自原始日耳曼语 *bul-, 源自 PIE 词根 *bhel-（2）“吹气，膨胀”。在意义上受到拉丁语 bulla “泡沫，球”的影响（见 bull（n.2））。
该词义于1500年左右扩展为“亚麻或棉花的圆形种子荚”。Boll weevil，这种害虫会破坏棉花荚，自1895年起被美国英语称为这个名字。
In south Texas, among Spanish-speaking people, the insect is generally known as the 'picudo,' a descriptive name which refers to the snout or beak of the insect. English-speaking planters generally referred to the insect at first as 'the sharpshooter,' a term which for many years has been applied to any insect which causes through its punctures the shedding of the squares or the rotting of the bolls. As there are several native insects that are commonly called sharpshooters and which, though injurious, are by no means to be compared with this insect, it becomes necessary to discourage in every way the use of the word sharpshooter as applied to this weevil. The adoption of the term 'Mexican cotton-boll weevil' for the new pest is recommended. [New Mexico College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 19, April 1896]
在德克萨斯州南部，西班牙语区的人们通常称这种昆虫为“picudo”，这是一个描述性的名称，指的是昆虫的吻或喙。英语种植者最初通常将这种昆虫称为“sharpshooter”，这个术语多年来一直用于任何通过其刺孔引起方块脱落或荚腐烂的昆虫。由于有几种本地昆虫通常被称为 sharpshooters，虽然有害但绝不可与这种昆虫相比，因此有必要以各种方式阻止将 sharpshooter 一词用于这种象鼻虫。建议采用“墨西哥棉铃象”这个新害虫的术语。[新墨西哥农业与机械工艺学院农业实验站公报第19号，1896年4月]
昆虫学干预词源学的案例。
该词起源时间：13世纪