Brambull
/ˈbræm.bʊl/noun
A regional English or Scots name for the bullfinch, a small songbird that feeds heavily on buds and seeds.
Did you know?The name likely evokes a “bull” among brambles because bullfinches were associated with thorny hedgerows and were notorious for eating fruit-tree buds.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
Old English
brēmel
“Bramble or thorny shrub”
Middle English
Middle English
brembel
“A bramble or blackberry bush”
Middle English
Middle English
bulle
“A bull, male bovine animal”
16th–17th Century
English
bramble-bull
“A regional compound name for the bullfinch”
Scots and Northern English
Scots/English
brambull
“Bullfinch; a dialectal bird-name formed from bramble and bull”
Modern English
English
brambull
“An obsolete or regional name for the bullfinch”