Standard Lemma guide

billowy

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈbɪ.ləʊ.(w)i/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪləʊ(w)i

1

adj

Meaning 1

Swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

characterized by great swelling waves or surges

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • billowy storm clouds
  • the restless billowing sea
  • surging waves

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: billowing(a), surging

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bhelǵh-der. Proto-Germanic *belganą Proto-Germanic *bulgijō Old Norse bylgjabor. Middle English *bilwe English billow Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English billowy From billow + -y.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: хълмист (hǎlmist) — full of billows or surges
  • German: wellig — full of billows or surges
  • German: wogend — full of billows or surges
  • Māori: tāpokopoko — full of billows or surges
  • Spanish: onduloso — full of billows or surges
  • Turkish: dalga dalga — full of billows or surges
  • Turkish: dalgalı — full of billows or surges