bugge

Middle English

Etymology

Likely fromProto-Germanic*bugja-(“swollen up, thick”),ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*bʰew-,*bu-(“to swell”).Comparebigge(“powerful, strong”),Norwegianbugge(“big man”),dialectalLow GermanBögge,Boggelmann(“goblin, snot”)fromProto-Germanic*pūkô(“a goblin, spook”).

Noun

bugge

1. bogy,hobgoblin,bugbear;scarecrow
   • As abuggeeither a man of raggis in a place where gourdis wexen kepith no thing, so ben her goddis of tree.— Wycliffe Bible, 1425,W:Letter of Jeremiah(W:Book of Baruch6:69). loose translation of the Latin "Nam sicut in cucumerarioformidonihil custodit, ita sunt dii illorum lignei... ", in turn translating the Greek" Ωσπερ γαρ εν σικυηρατωπροβασκανιονουδεν φυλασσον, ουτως οι θεοι αυτων εισι ξυλινοι... "

References

• “bugge,n.”,inMED Online,Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

FromOld Norsebuggi.CompareEnglishbig.

Noun

buggem(definite singularbuggen,indefinite pluralbuggar,definite pluralbuggane)

1. (dialectal)greatman

References

• “bugge”inThe Nynorsk Dictionary.