bun

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bun"

Languages (25)

Translingual • English

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Afar • Albanian • Aromanian • Chibcha • Dalmatian • Girirra • Gullah • Irish • Japanese • Ligurian • Megleno-Romanian • Middle English • Old English • Old French • Old Irish • Romanian • Scottish Gaelic • Somali • Sranan Tongo • Sumerian • Tok Pisin • Turkish • Yoruba

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Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

bun

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Sherbro.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Sherbro terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʌn/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /bʊn/
• Rhymes: -ʌn

Etymology 1

From Middle English bunne (“wheat cake, bun”), from Anglo-Norman bugne (“bump on the head; fritter”), from Old French bugne (hence French beignet), from Frankish *bungjo (“little clump”), diminutive of *bungu (“lump, clump”), from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô (“clump, lump, heap, crowd”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick, dense, fat”). Cognate with Dutch bonk (“clump, clot, cluster of fruits”). More at bunch.

Alternative forms

• bunn (archaic)

Noun

Buns (sense 1.1)

A hamburger in a bun (sense 1.2)

Buns (sense 1.3)

A bun (sense 1.4)

bun (plural buns)

1. Senses referring to baked goods.
   2. A small bread roll that is sweetened or spiced.

      Coordinate term: cake

   4. A bread roll that is served with a savoury filling such as a hamburger or hot dog.
   6. (Northern England, especially Northumbria) Any bread roll.

      Coordinate term: cake

   8. (Northern England, Ireland) A cupcake.

      Coordinate term: cake

3. A roll of hair worn at the back of the head.

   Synonyms: hair bun, chignon

   Hyponyms: French roll; man-bun

   loose bun;   messy bun;   tight bun

   • 2021, Becky S. Li, Howard I. Maibach, Ethnic Skin and Hair and Other Cultural Considerations, page 154:

     The physician should evaluate for a history of tight ponytails, buns, chignons, braids, twists, weaves, cornrows, dreadlocks, sisterlocks, and hair wefts in addition to the usage of religious hair coverings.

5. (British, slang) A drunken spree.
6. (Internet slang) A newbie.
7. (slang) A young girl or woman.
8. (Canada, US, slang, chiefly in the plural) A buttock.

   nice buns;   tight buns

9. (slang) The vagina.
   • 1996, Richard Sandomir, Life for Real Dummies: A Reference for the Totally Clueless‎^[1], page 5:

     How 'bout I put my hot dog in your bun?

   • 2015, Rachelle Ayala, Whole Latte Love‎^[2], page 169:

     Wait. I can touch your boobs, stick my wiener in your bun, but I can't kiss you?

   • 2019 Hot Blood, Hot Thoughts, Hot Deeds, Empire season 5 episode 13

     I'm just saying, you being a mama, it's time to clear the cobwebs. You know what I'm saying? Put a banana in the monkey. You know, hot dog in your bun.

Derived terms

(hairstyle): bun drop, Princess Leia bun, man-bun

mostly other "bun" meanings

• bao bun
• Bath bun
• biscuit bun
• black bun
• Boston bun
• bun fight
• bun-fight
• bunhead
• bun-headed
• bun in the oven
• bunless
• bunlike
• bunny
• bun stock
• burger bun
• Burlington bun
• Chelsea bun
• chip bun
• chow mein bun
• cinnamon bun
• cop the bun
• couldn't organise a bun fight in a bakery
• cream bun
• currant bun
• finger bun
• fun in a bun
• fun on a bun
• have a bun in the oven
• honeybun
• honey bun
• horse bun
• hot cross bun
• hot dog bun
• Kitchener bun
• man bun
• occipital bun
• penny bun
• pineapple bun
• rock bun
• rockbun
• sticky bun

Translations

a small bread roll, often sweetened or spiced

• Afrikaans: bolletjie, broodrolletjie
• Albanian: simite (sq) f
• Arabic: كَعْكَة f (kaʕka)

  Egyptian Arabic: كحكة f (kaḥka)

• Armenian: բուլկի (hy) (bulki)
• Azerbaijani: qoğal (az), kökə, bulka
• Basque: opil
• Belarusian: бу́лачка f (búlačka), бу́лка f (búlka), са́йка f (sájka)
• Bulgarian: ки́фла f (kífla), сими́д m (simíd)
• Catalan: panellet (ca) m, pasta (ca) m, brioix m, llesca (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Dungan: бозы (bozɨ) (包子)

  Hokkien: 包仔 (zh-min-nan) (pau-á), 麭 / 𮮆 (pháng) (western bun)

  Mandarin: 小圓麵包 / 小圆面包 (xiǎo yuán miànbāo), 饅頭 / 馒头 (zh) (mántóu), 饃 / 馍 (zh) (mó), 包子 (zh) (bāozi), 小麵包 / 小面包 (zh) (xiǎomiànbāo)

• Cornish: torthell f
• Czech: žemle (cs) f
• Dalmatian: pizaraul, pizariaul
• Danish: bolle (da) c
• Dutch: bolletje (nl) n, broodje (nl) n, bol (nl) m
• Esperanto: bulko (eo)
• Estonian: kukkel
• Faroese: bolli m
• Finnish: pulla (fi)
• French: petit pain (fr) m
• Galician: bolo m, penla (gl) f, poia f, petada (gl) f, cornecho m
• Georgian: ფუნთუშა (puntuša)
• German: Brötchen (de) n, Hefestück n, Weck (de) m (Southern Germany), Teilchen (de) n (Western Germany), Semmel (de) f (regional)
• Hebrew: לחמנייה \ לַחְמָנִיָּה (he) f (lakhmaniyá)
• Hindi: रोटी (hi) (roṭī), छोटी मीठी ब्रेड (choṭī mīṭhī breḍ)
• Hungarian: zsemle (hu)
• Icelandic: bolla f
• Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: borróg f, pocaid f
• Italian: panino (it) m, pagnotta (it) f, rosetta f, sfilatino (it) m, michetta f
• Japanese: バン (ja) (ban), ロールパン (ja) (rōrupan)
• Korean: 흰 빵 (huin ppang), 롤빵 (rolppang)
• Latvian: maizīte f, bulciņa f
• Lithuanian: bandelė f, ragelis m
• Macedonian: земичка f (zemička), лепче n (lepče)
• Manx: bunnag f, bonnag f
• Navajo: bááh nímazí, bááh nímazí ʼałtsʼáálgizhígíí (split bun, hamburger bun)
• Norman: ban'se f (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bolle (no) m

  Nynorsk: bolle m

• Ottoman Turkish: چورك (çörek)
• Persian: گرده (fa) (gerde), بولکی (bulki)
• Polish: drożdżówka (pl) f, bułka (pl) f, kołaczyk m (regional)
• Portuguese: pãozinho (doce) m
• Romanian: chiflă (ro) f
• Russian: бу́лочка (ru) f (búločka), бу́лка (ru) f (búlka), плю́шка (ru) f (pljúška) (sweet), са́йка (ru) f (sájka)
• Scottish Gaelic: bonnach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: же̏мља f, жѐмичка f, зѐмичка f

  Roman: žȅmlja (sh) f, žèmička (sh) f, zèmička (sh) f

• Silesian: żymła f
• Slovak: žemľa f
• Slovene: žemlja f, žemljica f
• Spanish: bollo (es) m, panecillo (es) m, bolillo m, bolla (es) f, gallofa (es) f, mollete (es) m, pan mollete m
• Swedish: bulle (sv) c
• Tamil: பொங்கியப்பம் (ta) (poṅkiyappam)
• Tatar: күмәч (tt) (kümäç)
• Turkish: çörek (tr), hamburger ekmeği
• Ukrainian: бу́лка (uk) f (búlka), бу́лочка (uk) f (búločka), са́йка f (sájka)
• Volapük: bodül
• Yiddish: בולקע f (bulke), זעמל m (zeml)

a tight roll of hair worn at the back of the head

• Afrikaans: bolla
• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: كحكة f (kaḥka)

• Assamese: খোঁপা (khü̃pa)
• Basque: motots
• Belarusian: пучо́к m (pučók)
• Bulgarian: кок m (kok)
• Catalan: monyo f, trossa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 髮髻 / 发髻 (zh) (fàjì), 髻 (zh) (jì)

• Cornish: torthell f
• Dutch: knot (nl) m
• Esperanto: hartubero
• Finnish: nuttura (fi)
• French: chignon (fr) m
• Galician: caramiñola f, chicho m, moucha f, caroucho m, rodela f, rodo (gl) m
• German: Knoten (de) m, Haarknoten (de) m
• Greek: κότσος (el) m (kótsos)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can:
• Hungarian: konty (hu)
• Ido: chiniono (io)
• Indonesian: konde (id)
• Ingrian: tuppu, muna
• Irish: cocán m
• Italian: crocchia (it) f
• Japanese: 髷 (ja) (まげ, mage), (Japanese style, from Meiji era) 束髪 (ja) (そくはつ, sokuhatsu), お団子 (ja) (おだんご, odango), シニヨン (ja) (shiniyon)
• Latin: tutulus m, nōdus m
• Macedonian: пунџа f (pundža)
• Manx: doss m
• Maori: pūtiki
• Navajo: tsiiyééł, tsiiyéél
• Norman: chîngnon m (Jersey)
• Polish: kok (pl) m
• Portuguese: coque (pt) m
• Romani: kilka f
• Russian: пучо́к (ru) m (pučók), у́зел (ru) m (úzel), шиньо́н (ru) m (šinʹón)
• Slovak: drdol (sk) m
• Spanish: rodete (es) m, moño (es) m, chongo (es) m (Esp., Guat., Mex.)
• Telugu: సిగ (te) (siga)
• Turkish: topuz (tr)
• Ukrainian: пучо́к m (pučók)
• Yiddish: קאָקס m (koks)

a drunken spree

• Bulgarian: запо́й (bg) m (zapój)
• French: biture (fr)
• Russian: попо́йка (ru) f (popójka), пья́нка (ru) f (pʹjánka), запо́й (ru) m (zapój)

newbie — see newbie

Verb

bun (third-person singular simple present buns, present participle bunning, simple past and past participle bunned)

1. (transitive) To form (the hair) into a bun.
   • 2014, A. A. Garrison, The Long Short Story: Novellas, page 39:

     Bunning her hair, she left her childhood bedroom for the hall.

Further reading

• Bun (bread roll) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Bun (hairstyle) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Probably from Scots bun (“tail of a rabbit or hare”), which is probably from Scottish Gaelic bun (“bottom, butt, stump, stub”).

Noun

bun (plural buns)

1. (colloquial, childish) Clipping of bunny (“rabbit”).

   Synonym: bun-bun

   She brought home two new buns to join the menagerie!

2. (dialect, archaic, nonclipped) A bunny: a rabbit.
3. (dialect, archaic) A squirrel.
4. (dialect, archaic) The scut or tail of a hare.
5. (dialect, archaic) A dry stalk.

Derived terms

• sea-bun

Etymology 3

Caribbean pronunciation of burn.

Verb

bun (third-person singular simple present buns, present participle bunning, simple past and past participle bunned)

1. (Caribbean, MLE and MTE, slang) To smoke cannabis.
2. (MLE, African-American Vernacular, slang) To shoot.
   • 2004, MC Forcer, guest on Lethal Bizzle, "Pow!"

     Don't care about your crew, bun them any day

   • 2011, Jme, Mike Lowery:

     Some man acting dumb, think's he's a gun-man, wanna bring me drama. How you gonna bun me?

   • 2017, “Fire in the Booth”, performed by Taze, reused in ”Usual Suspects”:

     Look, come round, come round gunning, I still look try to bun him
     Don't chat on the net ’bout bunnin, oh my God why the fuck you runnin?

   • 2018, “Slatt Season”, in Sorry For The Get Off‎^[3], performed by Drego & Beno, track 15:

     The K in the back, the glock in the front
     It’s one in the head, you know how we bun

3. (MLE, slang) To forget.

Noun

bun (plural buns)

1. (Caribbean and MLE, slang) marijuana cigarette, joint
   • 2018, “Rolling Round”, HL8 and SimpzBeatz (music), performed by Sparko of OMH:

     Man say that they spray the fire
     I fuck that shit, I drop the bun

Etymology 4

From the Revised Romanization of Korean 분 (bun), from Chinese 分 (fèn, “fen”). Doublet of fen.

Alternative forms

• p'un, pun

Noun

bun (plural buns or bun)

1. A Korean unit of length equivalent to about 0.3 cm.

Anagrams

• nub

Afar

Alternative forms

• búun (Northern Afar)
• búna, buná (Southern Afar)

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic بُنّ (bunn).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbun/ [ˈbʊn]
• Hyphenation: bun

Noun

bún m (plural buunitté f)

1. (Northern Afar) coffee

Declension

Declension of bún
absolutive	bún
predicative	búunu
subjective	bún
genitive	buntí
Postpositioned forms l-case búunul k-case búunuk t-case búunut h-case búunuh

References

• Mario Capomazza (1907), “bunu”, in La lingua degli Afar: Vocabulario Italiano-Dankalo e Dankalo-Italiano [The language of the Afar: Italian-Dankal and Dankal-Italian dictionary], Macerata: Unione Tipografica, page 118
• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “bun”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Albanian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Albanian *bhunā. Compare Illyrian *bounon. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be wake, keep watch”).

Noun

bun m (plural bune, definite buni, definite plural bunet)

1. hut (of mountain shepherds), chalet, fenced area (for cattle)

   Synonyms: kasolle, kolibe

Declension

Declension of bun

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bun	buni	bune	bunet
accusative		bunin
dative	buni	bunit	buneve	buneve
ablative			bunesh

Related terms

• buj
• bujtinë

Further reading

• “bun”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[4], 1980

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• bunu

Etymology

From Latin bonus. Compare Daco-Romanian bun.

Adjective

bun m (feminine bunã, plural bunj, feminine plural buni or bune)

1. good

Derived terms

• bunãtati
• bunuescu
• mbunedzu
• nibun

Related terms

• ghini

Chibcha

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡun/

Noun

bun

1. bread, bun

References

• Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin bonus.

Adjective

bun m (feminine buna)

1. good

Girirra

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic بُنّ (bunn).

Noun

bun

1. coffee

Gullah

Etymology

From English burn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʌːn/

Verb

bun

1. To burn

References

• De Nyew Testament‎^[5], Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc., 2025

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish bun (“the thick end of anything, base, butt, foot”), from Proto-Celtic *bonus. Cognate with Welsh bôn.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /bˠun̪ˠ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /bˠun/, /bˠɞn/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /bˠʌnˠ/, /bˠʌn̪ˠ/

Noun

bun m (genitive singular buin, nominative plural bunanna)

1. base, bottom
2. stump
3. lower end
4. basic provision
5. settled spell (of weather)
6. source

Declension

Declension of bun (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative bun bunanna vocative a bhuin a bhunanna genitive buin bunanna dative bun bunanna forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an bun na bunanna genitive an bhuin na mbunanna dative leis an mbun don bhun leis na bunanna

Synonyms

• stoc

Derived terms

• ar bun (“established”)
• bun na cluaise (“earlobe”)
• bun ribe (“carbuncle”)
• bun- (“basic”)
• bunaigh (“establish”)
• bunaonad (“base unit”)
• bunoscionn (“upside down”)
• bunú (“foundation”)
• bunús (“basis”)
• de bhun (“in pursuance of”)
• de bhun tola (“willingly”)
• faoi bhun (“beneath”)
• i mbun (“attending to”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of bun

radical	lenition	eclipsis
bun	bhun	mbun

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “bun”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “bun”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “bun”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Japanese

Romanization

bun

1. Rōmaji transcription of ぶん

Ligurian

Etymology

From Latin bonus.

Adjective

bun

1. good

Megleno-Romanian

Etymology

From Latin bonus. Compare Aromanian bun, Romanian bun.

Adjective

bun

1. good

Antonyms

• rǫu

See also

• bini

Middle English

Adjective

bun

1. alternative form of boun

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buːn/

Participle

būn

1. past participle of būan

Old French

Adjective

bun m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bune)

1. (Anglo-Norman) alternative form of bon

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	buns	bune	bun
	oblique	bun			bune	bun
plural	subject	bun	bunes		bun
	oblique	buns			bunes	bun

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *bonus. Cognate with Welsh bôn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbun/

Noun

bun m (genitive bona, nominative plural bonai)

1. base
2. bottom
3. butt
4. end

Inflection

Masculine u-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	bun	bunL	bonaeH
vocative	bun	bunL	bonu
accusative	bunN	bunL	bonu
genitive	bonoH, bonaH	bonoL, bonaL	bonaeN
dative	bunL	bonaib	bonaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Related terms

• bunad

Descendants

• Irish: bun
• Manx: bun
• Scottish Gaelic: bun

Mutation

Mutation of bun

radical	lenition	nasalization
bun	bun pronounced with /β-/	mbun

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 bun”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bun/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin bonus, from Old Latin duenos, later duonus, from Proto-Italic *dwenos. Doublet of bon, bonă, and bonus.

Adjective

bun m or n (feminine singular bună, masculine plural buni, feminine/neuter plural bune)

1. good

   Antonym: rău

   E un om bun, crede-mă. ― He is a good man, trust me.

   Sunt bun la fotbal. ― I am good at football.

Declension

Declension of bun

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	bun		bună		buni	bune
	definite	bunul		buna		bunii	bunele
genitive- dative	indefinite	bun		bune		buni	bune
	definite	bunului		bunei		bunilor	bunelor

Derived terms

• îmbuna
• nebun
• răzbuna

Related terms

• bunătate

Noun

bun n (plural bunuri)

1. good, asset, possession

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bun	bunul		bunuri	bunurile
genitive-dative	bun	bunului		bunuri	bunurilor
vocative	bunule			bunurilor

Etymology 2

Either from the above word or from a Vulgar Latin *avunus, ultimately from the same Proto-Indo-European root as avus. (Compare the diminutive avunculus, avonculus), probably influenced by or confused with bonus. Compare also Friulian von (“grandfather”), Calabrian and Piedmontese bona (“grandmother”).

Noun

bun m (plural buni, feminine equivalent bună)

1. (uncommon) grandfather

   Synonym: bunic

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bun	bunul		buni	bunii
genitive-dative	bun	bunului		buni	bunilor
vocative	bunule			bunilor

Derived terms

• bună
• bunic, bunică

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish bun (“the thick end of anything, base, butt, foot”), from Proto-Celtic *bonus. Cognate with Welsh bôn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pun/

Noun

bun m (genitive singular buna or buin, plural buin or bunan)

1. bottom, base, foundation
2. butt, stub

Derived terms

• bun-os-cionn (“upside down”)
• bun-reachd (“constitution”) (politics)
• bun-sgoil (“primary school”)
• bun-stòr (“primary source”)
• dèan bun no bàrr (“make head or tail”)

Mutation

Mutation of bun

radical	lenition
bun	bhun

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911), “bun”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[6], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 bun”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Somali

Noun

bun ?

1. coffee

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese bom.

Adjective

bun

1. good

Adverb

bun

1. very, rather

Sumerian

Romanization

bun

1. romanization of 𒇌 (bun)

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English bone.

Noun

bun

1. (anatomy) bone
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 2:21:

     Orait God, Bikpela i mekim man i slip i dai tru. Na taim man i slip yet, God i kisim wanpela bun long banis bilong man na i pasim gen skin bilong dispela hap.

     →New International Version translation

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بوك (buñ), Proto-Turkic *buŋ. Cognate with Kazakh мұң (mūñ).

Noun

bun

1. distress

Derived terms

• bunak
• bunalım
• bunalımlı
• bunalmak
• bunaltı
• bunaltmak
• bunamak
• bunayış
• bungun
• bunlu
• bunluk
• bunmak
• bunsuz

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bũ̀/

Verb

bùn

1. (transitive) to dash, to donate, to give away

   ó bùn mi ní owó ― He gave me money

2. (transitive) to gift, bless, or endow someone
3. (intransitive) to be gifted, endowed, or blessed with something

Usage notes

• Sense 1 is a verbal element that subcategorizes an NP-object (receiver) + ní + NP phrase
• bun before a direct object

Derived terms

• bùnlẹ́bùn (“to endow someone with a gift”)
• bùnlọ́mọ (“to be blessed with a child”)
• Ẹ̀bùn (“a Yoruba given name”)
• ẹ̀bùn (“gift”)
• ìbùn