bollë

Albanian

Alternative forms

• boljë

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *bālwā, close to Latin bēlua (“beast”) (cf. Italian belva and Romanian balaur. According to price, they might have be of Dacian origin. It could also be of Pre-indo-European origins alongside Greek πελώριον (pelórion). Another possibility is that balaur could be a Celtic derivation cf. the Irish mythical giant Balor , from Proto-Celtic *boleros (“The flashing one”), who could kill with flashes of light from his eye or with his poisonous breath

Noun

bollë f (plural bolla, definite bolla, definite plural bollat)

1. any of various nonvenomous snakes of the families Colubridae or Boidae
2. glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca)
3. (mythology) a kuçedër's early form

Declension

Hyponyms

• bollë shtëpisë (“Aesculapian snake”) (Zamenis longissimus)
• bollë laramane, bollë leopard (“European ratsnake, leopard snake”) (Zamenis situla)
• bollë varrezash, bollëshordjë (“chicken-snake, four-lined ratsnake”) (Elaphe quatuorlineata)
• bollë e rërës (“javelin sand boa”) (Eryx jaculus)
• bollë uji (“grass snake”) (Natrix natrix)
• bollëverbët (“slowworm, blindworm”) (Anguis fragilis)

Derived terms

• bullar, bollujësë, bollësharde

References