bulimia

See also: bulímia and bulimią

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws

Proto-Hellenic *gʷous

Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs)

Ancient Greek λῑμός (līmós)

Ancient Greek βούλῑμος (boúlīmos)

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂

Proto-Hellenic *-íā

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)

Ancient Greek βουλῑμῐ́ᾱ (boulīmĭ́ā)lbor.

English bulimia

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek βουλῑμῐ́ᾱ (boulīmĭ́ā, “ravenous hunger”), from βούλῑμος (boúlīmos) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā).

Pronunciation

(Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?) (particularly: are these distributed by dialect/region at all? if you know plz help)

• IPA^(key): /bjuˈlimi.ə/, /bjuˈlɪmi.ə/, /buˈlimi.ə/, /buˈlɪmi.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmiə, -iːmiə
• Hyphenation: bu‧li‧mi‧a

Noun

bulimia (countable and uncountable, plural bulimias)

2. (pathology) A chronic eating disorder characterized by a binge-and-purge cycle: extreme overeating followed by self-induced vomiting.

   Synonym: bulimia nervosa

   • 1989, Daniel Waters, Heathers, spoken by Heather Chandler:

     Grow up, Heather, bulimia is so '87.

   • 2011 August 8, Margaret Renkl, “The scary trend of tweens with anorexia”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 14 January 2012:

     Once considered a risk only for wealthy, high-achieving teenage girls, eating disorders such as anorexia (and, more rarely, bulimia) are becoming increasingly common among children, even little boys.

3. (pathology, obsolete) Excessive hunger.

   Hypernym: hunger

Derived terms

• academic bulimia
• bulimarexia
• bulimorexia
• diabulimia
• exercise bulimia

Translations

eating disorder

• Albanian: neuroza bulimike
• Bulgarian: булимия нервоза (bulimija nervoza)
• Catalan: bulímia (ca), bulímia nerviosa (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暴食症 (zh) (bàoshízhèng), 神經性暴食症 / 神经性暴食症 (shénjīngxìng bàoshízhèng)

• Czech: bulimie
• Dutch: boulimie (nl) f
• Esperanto: bulimio
• Estonian: buliimia
• Finnish: bulimia (fi), ahmimishäiriö
• French: boulimie (fr) f
• German: Bulimie (de) f
• Greek: ψυχογενής βουλιμία (psychogenís voulimía), νευρογενής βουλιμία (nevrogenís voulimía)
• Icelandic: lotugræðgi
• Indonesian: bulimia (id)
• Irish: búilime néarógach
• Italian: bulimia (it) f
• Japanese: 過食症 (ja) (kashokushō)
• Lithuanian: bulimija, hiperoreksija
• Norwegian: bulimi (no)
• Polish: bulimia nervosa, żarłoczność psychiczna
• Portuguese: bulimia (pt) f
• Romanian: bulimia nervoasă
• Russian: булими́я (ru) (bulimíja), не́рвная булими́я (nérvnaja bulimíja)
• Scottish Gaelic: acras geur
• Spanish: bulimia (es) f, bulimia nerviosa f
• Swedish: bulimi (sv)
• Turkish: bulimiya nervoza
• Ukrainian: булімі́я f (bulimíja), нерво́ва булімі́я f (nervóva bulimíja)

Further reading

• “bulimia”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Finnish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βουλιμία (boulimía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbulimiɑ/, [ˈbuliˌmiɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -iɑ
• Syllabification^(key): bu‧li‧mi‧a
• Hyphenation^(key): bu‧li‧mia

Noun

bulimia

1. (pathology) bulimia

Declension

Inflection of bulimia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		bulimia	bulimiat
genitive		bulimian	bulimioiden bulimioitten
partitive		bulimiaa	bulimioita
illative		bulimiaan	bulimioihin
		singular	plural
nominative		bulimia	bulimiat
accusative	nom.	bulimia	bulimiat
	gen.	bulimian
genitive		bulimian	bulimioiden bulimioitten bulimiain rare
partitive		bulimiaa	bulimioita
inessive		bulimiassa	bulimioissa
elative		bulimiasta	bulimioista
illative		bulimiaan	bulimioihin
adessive		bulimialla	bulimioilla
ablative		bulimialta	bulimioilta
allative		bulimialle	bulimioille
essive		bulimiana	bulimioina
translative		bulimiaksi	bulimioiksi
abessive		bulimiatta	bulimioitta
instructive		—	bulimioin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of bulimia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative bulimiani bulimiani accusative nom. bulimiani bulimiani gen. bulimiani genitive bulimiani bulimioideni bulimioitteni bulimiaini rare partitive bulimiaani bulimioitani inessive bulimiassani bulimioissani elative bulimiastani bulimioistani illative bulimiaani bulimioihini adessive bulimiallani bulimioillani ablative bulimialtani bulimioiltani allative bulimialleni bulimioilleni essive bulimianani bulimioinani translative bulimiakseni bulimioikseni abessive bulimiattani bulimioittani instructive — — comitative — bulimioineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative bulimiasi bulimiasi accusative nom. bulimiasi bulimiasi gen. bulimiasi genitive bulimiasi bulimioidesi bulimioittesi bulimiaisi rare partitive bulimiaasi bulimioitasi inessive bulimiassasi bulimioissasi elative bulimiastasi bulimioistasi illative bulimiaasi bulimioihisi adessive bulimiallasi bulimioillasi ablative bulimialtasi bulimioiltasi allative bulimiallesi bulimioillesi essive bulimianasi bulimioinasi translative bulimiaksesi bulimioiksesi abessive bulimiattasi bulimioittasi instructive — — comitative — bulimioinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative bulimiamme bulimiamme accusative nom. bulimiamme bulimiamme gen. bulimiamme genitive bulimiamme bulimioidemme bulimioittemme bulimiaimme rare partitive bulimiaamme bulimioitamme inessive bulimiassamme bulimioissamme elative bulimiastamme bulimioistamme illative bulimiaamme bulimioihimme adessive bulimiallamme bulimioillamme ablative bulimialtamme bulimioiltamme allative bulimiallemme bulimioillemme essive bulimianamme bulimioinamme translative bulimiaksemme bulimioiksemme abessive bulimiattamme bulimioittamme instructive — — comitative — bulimioinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative bulimianne bulimianne accusative nom. bulimianne bulimianne gen. bulimianne genitive bulimianne bulimioidenne bulimioittenne bulimiainne rare partitive bulimiaanne bulimioitanne inessive bulimiassanne bulimioissanne elative bulimiastanne bulimioistanne illative bulimiaanne bulimioihinne adessive bulimiallanne bulimioillanne ablative bulimialtanne bulimioiltanne allative bulimiallenne bulimioillenne essive bulimiananne bulimioinanne translative bulimiaksenne bulimioiksenne abessive bulimiattanne bulimioittanne instructive — — comitative — bulimioinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative bulimiansa bulimiansa accusative nom. bulimiansa bulimiansa gen. bulimiansa genitive bulimiansa bulimioidensa bulimioittensa bulimiainsa rare partitive bulimiaansa bulimioitaan bulimioitansa inessive bulimiassaan bulimiassansa bulimioissaan bulimioissansa elative bulimiastaan bulimiastansa bulimioistaan bulimioistansa illative bulimiaansa bulimioihinsa adessive bulimiallaan bulimiallansa bulimioillaan bulimioillansa ablative bulimialtaan bulimialtansa bulimioiltaan bulimioiltansa allative bulimialleen bulimiallensa bulimioilleen bulimioillensa essive bulimianaan bulimianansa bulimioinaan bulimioinansa translative bulimiakseen bulimiaksensa bulimioikseen bulimioiksensa abessive bulimiattaan bulimiattansa bulimioittaan bulimioittansa instructive — — comitative — bulimioineen bulimioinensa

Synonyms

• ahmimishäiriö
• bulimia nervosa (medical professional language)

Further reading

• “bulimia”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

Indonesian

Etymology

Internationalism, Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek βουλιμία (boulimía, “ravenous hunger”), from βοῦς (boûs, “cow, ox”) +‎ λῑμός (līmós, “hunger”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /buliˈmia/ [bu.liˈmi.a]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: bu‧li‧mi‧a

Noun

bulimia (uncountable)

1. (pathology) bulimia

Derived terms

• bulimia nervosa

Further reading

• “bulimia”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Noun

bulimia f (plural bulimie)

1. bulimia, binge eating disorder

Derived terms

• bulimia nervosa
• bulimico

Polish

Etymology

Internationalism; compare English bulimia, French boulimie, German Bulimie, ultimately from Ancient Greek βουλιμία (boulimía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buˈli.mja/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -imja
• Syllabification: bu‧li‧mia

Noun

bulimia f (related adjective bulimiczny)

1. (pathology) bulimia (chronic eating disorder characterized by a binge-and-purge cycle: extreme overeating followed by self-induced vomiting)

   Synonym: żarłoczność psychiczna

Declension

Declension of bulimia

	singular
nominative	bulimia
genitive	bulimii
dative	bulimii
accusative	bulimię
instrumental	bulimią
locative	bulimii
vocative	bulimio

Related terms

adverbs

• bulimicznie

nouns

• bulimiczka
• bulimik

Further reading

• “bulimia”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “bulimia”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)
• bulimia in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /bu.liˈmi.ɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /bu.liˈmi.ɐ/

• Hyphenation: bu‧li‧mi‧a

Noun

bulimia f (plural bulimias)

1. (pathology) bulimia

   Synonyms: cinorexia, hiperorexia, licorexia

Further reading

• “bulimia”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “bulimia”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buˈlimja/ [buˈli.mja]
• Rhymes: -imja
• Syllabification: bu‧li‧mia

Noun

bulimia f (plural bulimias)

1. (pathology) bulimia

Further reading

• “bulimia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025