bobine

Auguste Scheler, without pronouncing himself, cites Saumaise who derives it, by resemblance between the spindle filled with thread and the silkworm in its cocoon, from bombyx; he also cites Diez who associates the word with bombus because of the buzzing of the bobbin on the loom. According to the Trésor de la langue française informatisé, it more likely derives from the onomatopoeic root bob expressing the movement of the lips, see bobard, beuh and blabla), hence what is swollen, cylindrical, from which the meaning of 'cheeks, face' is derived.