bowel

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French bouel, from Old French boiel, from Latin botellus, diminutive of botulus (“sausage”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: bou'əl, boul, IPA^(key): /ˈbaʊ.əl/, /baʊl/
• Rhymes: -aʊəl, -aʊl

Noun

bowel (plural bowels)

1. (chiefly medicine) A part or division of the intestines, usually the large intestine.
2. (in the plural) The entrails or intestines; the internal organs of the stomach.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts I:

     And when he was hanged, brast asondre in the myddes, and all his bowels gusshed out.

3. (in the plural) The (deep) interior of something.

   The treasures were stored in the bowels of the ship.

   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, I. i. 129:

     His soldiers […] cried out amain, / And rushed into the bowels of the battle.

4. (in the plural, archaic) The seat of pity or the gentler emotions; pity or mercy.
   • 1602, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, II. i. 48

     Thou thing of no bowels, thou!

   • (Can we date this quote by Fuller and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Bloody Bonner, that corpulent tyrant, full (as one said) of guts, and empty of bowels.

5. (obsolete, in the plural) offspring
   • 1604, William Shakespeare, Measure, for Measure, III. i. 29:

     Friend hast thou none, / For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,

Derived terms

Derived terms

• bowel cancer
• bowel movement
• bowel obstruction
• bowelless
• disbowel

• disembowel
• embowel
• irritable bowel syndrome
• large bowel
• unbowel

Translations

large intestine

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大腸／大肠 (zh) (dàcháng), 大肠 (zh) (dàcháng)

• Finnish: paksusuoli (fi)
• French: gros intestin (fr) m
• German: Darm (de) m
• Greek: παχύ έντερο (el) n (pachý éntero)
• Hebrew: מְעִי (he) m (m'í)
• Hungarian: vastagbél (hu)
• Italian: intestino crasso (it) m
• Japanese: 大腸 (ja) (だいちょう, daichō)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 대장 (ko) (daejang)
• Norwegian: tarm (no) m
• Polish: jelito (pl) n
• Portuguese: intestino grosso (pt) m
• Romanian: intestin gros n
• Russian: то́лстая кишка́ (ru) f (tólstaja kišká)
• Spanish: intestino grueso (es) m
• Turkish: bağırsak (tr)
• Zulu: ithumbu class 5/6

intestines, entrails

• Bulgarian: черва (bg) (červa), вътрешности (bg) (vǎtrešnosti)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 肠 (zh) (cháng)

• Cimbrian: buarst f
• Dutch: ingewande
• Finnish: suoli (fi), suolisto (fi)
• French: boyaux (fr) m pl
• Georgian: ნაწლავები (nac̣lavebi)
• German: Dickdarm (de) m
• Greek: σπλάχνα (el) n pl (spláchna), έντερο (el) n (éntero)
• Hungarian: bél (hu)
• Italian: budella f, viscere (it), intestino (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 腸 (ja) (chō)
• Korean: 배알 (ko) (baeal), 창자 (ko) (changja)
• Maori: terotero, whēkau, kōpiro
• Norwegian: tykktarm m
• Portuguese: intestino (pt), entranha (pt) f
• Russian: вну́тренности (ru) f pl (vnútrennosti)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: crjowo n

• Spanish: tripa (es) f, intestino (es) m
• Telugu: పేగులు (te) (pēgulu)
• Zulu: amathumbu class 5/6

interior of something

• Bulgarian: недра (bg) f pl (nedra)
• Finnish: sisukset pl
• French: entrailles (fr) f pl
• German: Inneres (de) n, Eingeweide (de) f, Bauch (de) m
• Greek: έγκατα (el) n pl (égkata), μύχια (el) n pl (mýchia), σπλάχνα (el) n pl (spláchna)
• Hebrew: קֶרֶב (he) m (qérev), קְרָבַיִם (he) du or pl (qraváyim)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: gyomor (hu), belső (hu)
• Italian: interiora (it) f pl
• Portuguese: entranhas f pl
• Romanian: pântec (ro) n, pântece (ro) n, sân (ro) m
• Spanish: entrañas (es) f pl

seat of pity or gentler emotions

• French: entrailles (fr) f pl
• Greek: σπλάχνα (el) n pl (spláchna)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: vísceras (es) f pl, entrañas (es) f pl

Verb

bowel (third-person singular simple present bowels, present participle bowelling or (US) boweling, simple past and past participle bowelled or (US) boweled)

1. (now rare) To disembowel.
   • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, page 149:

     Their bodies are first bowelled, then dried upon hurdles till they be very dry [...].

See also

• large bowel
• small bowel
• small intestine
• colon
• laxative
• tharm

Anagrams

• Below, Blowe, Lebow, below, blowe, bowle, elbow