bullion

英文词源

bullion

bullion: [14] The immediate source of bullion was Anglo-Norman bullion, which meant ‘place where coins are made, mint’, so presumably the underlying connotation is of melting, or ‘boiling’, metal down and then turning it into coins. On this reasoning it would come ultimately from Vulgar Latin *bulliōnem, a nominal derivative of Latin bullīre ‘boil’, from bulla ‘bubble’ (source of English boil). The present-day meaning ‘gold and silver in bulk’ had developed by the mid-15th century.
=> boil

bullion (n.)

early 15c., "uncoined gold or silver," from Anglo-French bullion "bar of precious metal," also "place where coins are made, mint," perhaps, through the notion of "melting," from Old French boillir "to boil," from Latin bullire "boil" (see boil (v.)). But perhaps it is rather from Old French bille "stick, block of wood" (see billiards).