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bugle1

[byoo-guh l]
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noun
  1. a brass wind instrument resembling a cornet and sometimes having keys or valves, used typically for sounding military signals.
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verb (used without object), bu·gled, bu·gling.
  1. to sound a bugle.
  2. (of bull elks) to utter a rutting call.
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verb (used with object), bu·gled, bu·gling.
  1. to call by or with a bugle: to bugle reveille.
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Origin of bugle1

1250–1300; Middle English bugle (horn) instrument made of an ox horn < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin būculus bullock, young ox, equivalent to bū- variant stem of bōs ox + -culus -cle1
Related formsbu·gler, noun

bugle2

[byoo-guh l]
noun
  1. ajuga.
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Origin of bugle2

1225–75; Middle English < Old French < Medieval Latin bugula a kind of plant

bugle3

[byoo-guh l]
noun
  1. Also called bugle bead. a tubular glass bead used for ornamenting dresses.
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adjective
  1. Also bu·gled. ornamented with bugles.
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Origin of bugle3

First recorded in 1570–80; of obscure origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for bugle

bugle1

noun
  1. music a brass instrument similar to the cornet but usually without valves: used for military fanfares, signal calls, etc
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verb
  1. (intr) to play or sound (on) a bugle
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Derived Formsbugler, noun

Word Origin

C14: short for bugle horn ox horn (musical instrument), from Old French bugle, from Latin būculus young bullock, from bōs ox

bugle2

noun
  1. any of several Eurasian plants of the genus Ajuga, esp A. reptans, having small blue or white flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)Also called: bugleweed See also ground pine
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Word Origin

C13: from Late Latin bugula, of uncertain origin

bugle3

noun
  1. a tubular glass or plastic bead sewn onto clothes for decoration
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Word Origin

C16: of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bugle

n.

mid-14c., abbreviation of buglehorn "musical horn, hunting horn" (c.1300), from Old French bugle "(musical) horn," also "wild ox, buffalo," from Latin buculus "heifer, young ox," diminutive of bos "ox, cow" (see cow (n.)). Middle English also had the word in the "buffalo" sense and it survived in dialect with meaning "young bull." Modern French bugle is a 19c. borrowing from English.

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v.

1852, from bugle (n.). Related: Bugled; bugling (1847). Also cf. bugler.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper