Bullion

How to spell bullion

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bullion

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bullion mean?

1. nounGold or silver in bulk form, such as bars or ingots, valued by weight rather than as coin.

Bullion in a sentence

• The vault held several tonnes of gold bullion.

• Investors often buy silver bullion as a hedge against inflation.

Where does bullion come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes from Anglo-Norman French bullion, which referred to a mint or a melting house where precious metals were boiled down and recast. The form traces back to the Old French verb boillir, 'to boil', from the Latin bullire, meaning 'to bubble' or 'to boil', the same root that gives us 'boil' and 'ebullient'. The connection to boiling reflects the way gold and silver were melted before being cast into bars or struck into coin. English took the word in during the 1300s, where it settled into its modern sense of uncoined precious metal valued by weight. It is easily confused in writing with 'bouillon', the clear broth, which descends from the very same boiling verb, so the double letters and the -ion ending are the parts worth fixing in memory.

How the word is built

• bull- (from Old French boillon, from bouillir: to boil/melt)
• -ion (noun suffix)