Bull

Bull. 1. An authoritative letter to the Catholic Church, issued by the Pope as its head, and so-called from the bulla or round leaden seal which gives it validity. This bears on one side the figures of St. Peter and St, Paul; on the other, the name of the reigning Pope. It is attached to the document by a cord (silken if the bull is "a bull of grace," hempen if it is a "bull of justice"). The bull is in Latin, and is engrossed on parchment in a peculiar character, and is dated "from the day of the Incarnation," and sometimes in the classical Roman fashion (so many days before the calends, nones, or ides of the month). Important doctrines have often been promulgated thus, and the bull is often known by some of the Latin words near its opening. The Brief is a somewhat similar letter of a less important and authoritative character. The term bull has occasionally been applied to documents issued by lay princes.

2. A ludicrous blunder in expression, involving some inconsistency, of which the speaker himself is unconsoious. Sir Boyle Roche's saying, "No man can be in two places at once unless he is a bird," is an instance. Though "bulls" are now supposed to be an Irish characteristic, the word (according to Dr. Murray) was long in use before it was specially connected with the Irish. The theory that the use of the term originated in contemptuous allusion to the Papal edicts is rejected by the same authority, who connects it with the old French word boul, fraud. Thus it may have meant originally a jest or practical joke.