The word *bullying* has one of the more surprising backstories in English: it descends from a term of endearment. The journey from love to aggression unfolded over roughly two centuries and offers a textbook case of semantic pejoration — the process by which words acquire increasingly negative meanings.
The noun *bully* first appeared in English around 1530, borrowed from Dutch *boel*, meaning "lover" or "sweetheart." The Dutch word itself derived from Middle High German *buole*, meaning "brother" or "lover" — a term of close familial or romantic affection. Some etymologists connect *buole* to Proto-Germanic kinship vocabulary, though the exact line of descent is debated. What is certain is that the word entered English carrying
## The Positive Phase
In 16th-century English, a *bully* was a fine fellow, a dear friend, a sweetheart. The word functioned much as "buddy" or "mate" does today. William Shakespeare used it in precisely this positive sense: in *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (c. 1595), Peter Quince calls Nick Bottom "bully Bottom" as a term of hearty camaraderie. In *Henry V*,
This usage persisted into the early 17th century. *Bully* could describe an admirable man, a gallant, or a protector. The phrase "bully for you" — meaning "good for you, well done" — preserves this older positive sense and survived in American English into the early 20th century. Theodore Roosevelt famously used "bully" as an exclamation of enthusiasm.
## The Semantic Reversal
The shift began in the mid-to-late 17th century. A *bully* started to describe not just a fine fellow but a *swaggering* fellow — someone who used their strength or confidence to dominate social situations. From swaggerer, the word moved to *blusterer*, then to *intimidator*. By the 1680s, the primary meaning had settled on someone who uses superior strength or position to frighten or coerce others.
The mechanism of this change likely involved ironic usage. When a word of praise is applied sarcastically — calling a thug a "fine fellow" — and the ironic sense becomes the dominant one, pejoration results. A parallel case is *villain*, which originally meant "farmworker" (from Latin *villānus*, inhabitant of a *villa* or farm) before descending through "low-born person" to "scoundrel" to "evildoer."
## Formation of *Bullying*
The gerund-noun *bullying* — referring to the repeated practice of intimidation — appeared in the early 18th century. While *bully* as a verb (meaning to intimidate) was in use by the 1710s, the noun *bullying* as a concept gained prominence gradually. It was not until the 20th century that *bullying* became a major term in educational and psychological discourse, particularly after Scandinavian researchers Dan Olweus and others began systematic studies of peer aggression in schools during the 1970s.
## No Connection to Bulls
Despite persistent folk etymology, *bully* has no connection to the word *bull* (the animal). The bovine *bull* descends from Old English *bula*, from Proto-Germanic *bulô*, while *bully* enters English from the Continental Germanic romance-kinship vocabulary described above. The phonetic similarity is coincidental, though it may have reinforced the word's aggressive connotations once the meaning shifted. The compound *bull-baiting* (a blood sport) is similarly unrelated to *bully* etymologically, even if the cultural association
## Modern Usage
Today *bullying* typically denotes a pattern of repeated aggressive behavior involving a power imbalance. The word has specialized further in compound forms: *cyberbullying* (2000s), *workplace bullying* (1990s), and *anti-bullying* (as in legislation and school programs). The word that began as a Dutch lover's whisper now anchors some of the most serious conversations in education, law, and mental health — a complete inversion of its original emotional charge.