bulk

Where does the word "bulk" come from? It comes from Old Norse bulki, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Bulk’s story begins in Old Norse: bulki meant “a heap, a cargo.” A cargo, a heap or pile of goods. It reached English by 1300s as bulk. Settled as the English word for the size or mass of something. Today, bulk means the size or mass of something, or the greater part of a quantity.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval bulki "a heap, a cargo", a cargo, a heap or pile of goods.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s bulk "the size, mass, or majority of something", settled as the English word for the size or mass of something.