bullir

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin bullīre (“to bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”). Cognate with Catalan bullir, Occitan bolhir and French bouillir

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buˈʎi(ɾ)/
• Rhymes: -i(ɾ)
• Syllabification: bu‧llir

Verb

bullir

1. to boil

Conjugation

Conjugation of bullir (third conjugation)

infinitive			bullir
gerund			bullindo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		bulliu, bullito		bullida, bullita
		plural		bullius, bullitos		bullidas, bullitas
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		yo	tú	él	nusatros nusatras	vusatros vusatras	ellos/els ellas
	present	bullo	bulles	bulle	bullimos	bulliz	bullen
	imperfect	bulliba, bullibe	bullibas	bulliba	bullibanos	bullibaz	bulliban
	preterite	bullié	bulliés	bullió	bulliemos	bulliez	bullioron, bullión
	future	bulliré	bullirás	bullirá	bulliremos	bullirez	bullirán
	conditional	bulliría	bullirías	bulliría	bulliríanos	bulliríaz	bullirían
subjunctive		yo	tú	él	nusatros nusatras	vusatros vusatras	ellos/els ellas
	present	bulla	bullas	bulla	bullamos	bullaz	bullan
	imperfect	bullise	bullises	bullise	bullisenos	bullisez	bullisen
imperative		—	tú	—	—	vusatros vusatras	—
		—	bulle	—	—	bulliz	—

References

• “bullir”, in Aragonario, diccionario aragonés–castellano (in Spanish)

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin bullīre (“to bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”). Cognate with Aragonese bullir, Occitan bolhir and French bouillir

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Northwestern) [buˈʎi]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [buˈʎiɾ]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i(ɾ)
• Homophone: bullí (except Valencian)

Verb

bullir (first-person singular present bullo, first-person singular preterite bullí, past participle bullit)

1. to boil

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of bullir (third conjugation, without -eix-)

infinitive			bullir
gerund			bullint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		bullit		bullida
		plural		bullits		bullides
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	bullo	bulls	bull	bullim	bulliu	bullen
	imperfect	bullia	bullies	bullia	bullíem	bullíeu	bullien
	future	bulliré	bulliràs	bullirà	bullirem	bullireu	bulliran
	preterite	bullí	bullires	bullí	bullírem	bullíreu	bulliren
	conditional	bulliria	bulliries	bulliria	bulliríem	bulliríeu	bullirien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	bulli	bullis	bulli	bullim	bulliu	bullin
	imperfect	bullís	bullissis	bullís	bullíssim	bullíssiu	bullissin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	bull	bulli	bullim	bulliu	bullin
	negative (no)	—	no bullis	no bulli	no bullim	no bulliu	no bullin

Related terms

• bull
• bullabessa
• bullanga
• bullent
• bullícia
• bullida
• bullidera
• bullidor
• bulliment
• bullit
• bullor

Further reading

• “bullir”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “bullir”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “bullir” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “bullir”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Spanish

Alternative forms

• ebullir, bollir

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bew-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.?

Latin bulla

Proto-Indo-European *-yétider.

Latin -iō

Latin bulliō

Old Spanish bullir

Spanish bullir

Inherited from Old Spanish bullir, from Latin bulliō.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /buˈʝiɾ/ [buˈʝiɾ]

• IPA^(key): /buˈʝiɾ/ [buˈʝiɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /buˈʎiɾ/ [buˈʎiɾ] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /buˈʃiɾ/ [buˈʃiɾ] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /buˈʒiɾ/ [buˈʒiɾ] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /buˈiɾ/ [buˈiɾ] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: bu‧llir

Verb

bullir (first-person singular present bullo, first-person singular preterite bullí, past participle bullido)

1. (intransitive) to boil (to begin to turn into a gas)

   Synonym: hervir

2. (intransitive) to boil, to bubble, to churn (to be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce)

   Synonym: borbotear

3. (intransitive) to bustle (to move busily and energetically)
4. (figurative) to bubble, to bubble up, to well up (to churn or foment, as if wishing to rise to the surface)
   • 1888, Roberto Payró, Novelas y fantasías, page 190:

     Los muros de su espléndida casa le parecian estrechos para las nuevas ideas que bullían en su mente, que para su desarrollo necesitaban aire, espacio, luz...

     The walls of her magnificent house seemed to her too narrow for the new ideas that bubbled in her mind, which for their development needed air, space, light...

5. (intransitive) to teem, to abound

   Synonyms: hervir, abundar

6. (transitive) to move, to budge (part of one's body)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of bullir (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			bullir
gerund			bullendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		bullido		bullida
		plural		bullidos		bullidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	bullo	bullestú bullísvos	bulle	bullimos	bullís	bullen
	imperfect	bullía	bullías	bullía	bullíamos	bullíais	bullían
	preterite	bullí	bulliste	bulló	bullimos	bullisteis	bulleron
	future	bulliré	bullirás	bullirá	bulliremos	bulliréis	bullirán
	conditional	bulliría	bullirías	bulliría	bulliríamos	bulliríais	bullirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	bulla	bullastú bullásvos2	bulla	bullamos	bulláis	bullan
	imperfect (ra)	bullera	bulleras	bullera	bulléramos	bullerais	bulleran
	imperfect (se)	bullese	bulleses	bullese	bullésemos	bulleseis	bullesen
	future1	bullere	bulleres	bullere	bulléremos	bullereis	bulleren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		bulletú bullívos	bulla	bullamos	bullid	bullan
	negative		no bullas	no bulla	no bullamos	no bulláis	no bullan

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of bullir

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive bullir	dative	bullirme	bullirte	bullirle, bullirse	bullirnos	bulliros	bullirles, bullirse
	accusative	bullirme	bullirte	bullirlo, bullirla, bullirse	bullirnos	bulliros	bullirlos, bullirlas, bullirse
with gerund bullendo	dative	bulléndome	bulléndote	bulléndole, bulléndose	bulléndonos	bulléndoos	bulléndoles, bulléndose
	accusative	bulléndome	bulléndote	bulléndolo, bulléndola, bulléndose	bulléndonos	bulléndoos	bulléndolos, bulléndolas, bulléndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative bulle	dative	búlleme	búllete	búllele	búllenos	not used	búlleles
	accusative	búlleme	búllete	búllelo, búllela	búllenos	not used	búllelos, búllelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative bullí	dative	bullime	bullite	bullile	bullinos	not used	bulliles
	accusative	bullime	bullite	bullilo, bullila	bullinos	not used	bullilos, bullilas
with formal second-person singular imperative bulla	dative	búllame	not used	búllale, búllase	búllanos	not used	búllales
	accusative	búllame	not used	búllalo, búllala, búllase	búllanos	not used	búllalos, búllalas
with first-person plural imperative bullamos	dative	not used	bullámoste	bullámosle	bullámonos	bullámoos	bullámosles
	accusative	not used	bullámoste	bullámoslo, bullámosla	bullámonos	bullámoos	bullámoslos, bullámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative bullid	dative	bullidme	not used	bullidle	bullidnos	bullíos	bullidles
	accusative	bullidme	not used	bullidlo, bullidla	bullidnos	bullíos	bullidlos, bullidlas
with formal second-person plural imperative bullan	dative	búllanme	not used	búllanle	búllannos	not used	búllanles, búllanse
	accusative	búllanme	not used	búllanlo, búllanla	búllannos	not used	búllanlos, búllanlas, búllanse

Related terms

• bulla
• bullicio
• rebullir

Further reading

• “bullir”, 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