blb

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bъlbъ, from Proto-Indo-European *stl̥b-, an ablaut variant of *stelb (“post, pole, jamb”) (whence also stilbs, q.v.), from *stel- (“to put in a standing position, to erect; standing, immobile, stiff”) with an extra b. The semantic evolution was probably: “motionless, stiff” > “surprised, stunned” > “stupid”. Cognates include Old Irish borb (“foolish, silly”), Latvian stulbs (“stupid, dumb”) and Latin stultus (“foolish, fatuous”).