Boll

Boll, a botanical term for a fruit-pod, particularly of the cotton plant. The word is in O. Eng. bolla, which is also represented in “bowl,” a round vessel for liquids, a variant due to “bowl,” ball, which is from the Fr. boule. “Boll” is also used, chiefly in Scotland and the north of England, as a measure of weight for flour = 140 ℔, and of capacity for grain: 16 pecks = 1 boll.

* * *