bawl

Etymology

From Middle English baulen, from Old Norse baula (“to low”) and/or Medieval Latin baulō (“to bark”), both from Proto-Germanic *bau- (“to roar”), conflated with Proto-Germanic *bellaną, *ballijaną, *buljaną (“to shout, low, roar”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to sound, roar”). Cognate with Faroese belja (“to low”), Icelandic baula (“to moo, low”), Swedish böla (“to bellow, low”). More at bell.

verb

  1. (transitive) To shout or utter in a loud and intense manner.
  2. (intransitive) To wail; to give out a blaring cry.
  3. (intransitive) To weep profusely.

noun

  1. A loud, intense shouting or wailing.
    […] that clear soprano, in nursery, rings out a shower of innocent idiotisms over the half-stripped baby, and suspends the bawl upon its lips. 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard

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