bullion

[bool-yuhn]

noun

1. gold or silver considered in mass rather than in value.

2. gold or silver in the form of bars or ingots.

3. Also called bullion fringe. a thick trimming of cord covered with gold or silver thread, for decorating uniforms.

4. embroidery or lace worked with gold wire or gold or silver cords.

bullion

/ ˈbʊljən /

noun

1. gold or silver in mass

2. gold or silver in the form of bars and ingots, suitable for further processing

3. Also called: bullion fringe. a thick gold or silver wire or fringed cord used as a trimming, as on military uniforms

Other Word Forms

• bullionless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bullion¹

1300–50; Middle English: melted mass of gold or silver < Anglo-Latin bulliōn- (stem of bulliō ) in same sense (< Anglo-French bullion mint), literally, a boiling, equivalent to bull ( īre ) to bubble, boil ¹ + -iōn- -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of bullion¹

C14 (in the sense: melted gold or silver): from Anglo-French: mint, probably from Old French bouillir to boil, from Latin bullīre

Example Sentences

He attributes the boom in bullion buyers to worry about the economy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

You wouldn’t know it from the headlines of the past week about bullion’s record, but it’s just barely at a new high after inflation.

Read more on Barron's

That has helped lift bullion prices nearly 50% this year, putting gold on pace for its best annual gain since 1979.

Read more on Barron's

He’s long been running a notional portfolio he calls “All Asset No Authority,” which I’ve written about before and which consists of equal investments in seven different asset classes, one of which is gold bullion.

Read more on MarketWatch

Gold’s run-up began almost three years ago, fueled by central banks and Chinese investors loading up on bullion.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• buck 
• currency 
• investment 
• note 
• payment 
• refund 
• reserve 
• security 
• stock 
• supply