I. ˈbü(ˌ)lē, büˈlā noun
( -s )
Etymology: Greek boulē, literally, will, from boulesthai to wish, be willing; perhaps akin to Greek ballein to throw — more at devil
: a legislative council of ancient Greece consisting in Homeric times of an aristocratic body of princes and leaders merely advisory to the king and in Athens in Solon's time of an elective senate acting as a check on the popular assembly and later extending its functions to include certain matters of administration and supervision
II.
variant of boulle
III. ˈbül noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, ball — more at bowl (ball)
: a game similar to roulette in which a ball is put in motion in a bowl and players bet on the numbered compartment it will come to rest in
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, ball
: a pear-shaped mass of some substance (as sapphire, spinel, rutile) formed synthetically in the Verneuil furnace with the atomic structure of a single crystal but with crystallographic axes generally in a random position with respect to its length
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, ball
: a log sawed into slabs that are reassembled with spacer strips to form an oval stack resembling the original log