be- word-forming element of verbs and nouns from verbs, with a wide range of meaning: "about, around; thoroughly, completely; to make, cause seem; to provide with; at, on, to, for;" from Old English be- "about, around, on all sides" (the unstressed form of bi "by;" see by (prep.)). The form has remained by- in stressed positions and in some more modern formations (bylaw, bygones, bystander).
The Old English prefix also was used to make transitive verbs and as a privative prefix (as in behead). The sense "on all sides, all about" naturally grew to include intensive uses (as in bespatter "spatter about," therefore "spatter very much," besprinkle, etc.). Be- also can be causative, or have just about any sense required. The prefix was productive 16c.-17c. in forming useful words, many of which have not survived, such as bethwack "to thrash soundly" (1550s) and betongue "to assail in speech, to scold" (1630s).bi- word-forming element meaning "two, having two, twice, double, doubly, twofold, once every two," etc., from Latin bi- "twice, double," from Old Latin dvi- (cognate with Sanskrit dvi-, Greek di-, dis-, Old English twi-, German zwei- "twice, double"), from PIE root *dwo- "two."
Nativized from 16c. Occasionally bin- before vowels; this form originated in French, not Latin, and might be partly based on or influenced by Latin bini "twofold" (see binary). In chemical terms, it denotes two parts or equivalents of the substance referred to. Cognate with twi- and di- (1).bio- word-forming element, especially in scientific compounds, meaning "life, life and," or "biology, biology and," or "biological, of or pertaining to living organisms or their constituents," from Greek bios "one's life, course or way of living, lifetime" (as opposed to zoe "animal life, organic life"), from PIE root *gwei- "to live." The correct usage is that in biography, but since c. 1800 in modern science it has been extended to mean "organic life," as zoo-, the better choice, is restricted in modern use to animal, as opposed to plant, life. Both are from the same PIE root. Compare biology.bis- word-forming element meaning "twice," from Latin bis "twice, in two ways, doubly," from Old Latin dvis, cognate with Sanskrit dvih, Avestan bish, Greek dis, Middle High German zwis "twice," from PIE root *dwo- "two." Also the form of bi- used before -s-, -c-, or a vowel.brachio- before a vowel, brachi-, word-forming element meaning "arm, of the upper arm, pertaining to the upper arm and," from Greek brakhion "arm," perhaps originally "upper arm," literally "shorter," from brakhys "short" (from PIE root *mregh-u- "short"), in contrast to the longer forearm.brachy- word-forming element meaning "short," from Latinized combining form of Greek brakhys "short," from PIE root *mregh-u- "short."babe (n.)late 14c., "infant, young child of either sex," short for baban (early 13c.), which probably is imitative of baby talk (see babble (v.)). In many languages the word means "old woman" (compare Russian babushka "grandmother," from baba "peasant woman"), and it is also sometimes a child's variant of papa "father."
Crist crid in cradil, "moder, baba!" [John Audelay, c. 1426]
Now mostly superseded by its diminutive form baby. Used figuratively for "a childish person" from 1520s. Meaning "attractive young woman" is 1915, college slang (baby as "girl, young woman, girlfriend" is attested by 1839; see babe). Babe in arms is one so young it has to be carried; babe in the woods "an innocent among perils" is from 1795.babouche (n.)also baboosh, 1690s, from French babouche, from Arabic babush, from Persian paposh "a slipper," from pa "foot" (related to Avestan pad-, from PIE root *ped- "foot") + posh "covering." Arabic, lacking a -p-, regularly converts -p- in foreign words to -b-.babushka (n.)type of head covering for women, 1938, from Russian babushka "grandmother."back (n.)Old English bæc "back," from Proto-Germanic *bakam (cognates: Old Saxon and Middle Dutch bak, Old Frisian bek), with no known connections outside Germanic. In other modern Germanic languages the cognates mostly have been ousted in this sense by words akin to Modern English ridge (such as Danish ryg, German Rücken).
Many Indo-European languages show signs of once having distinguished the horizontal back of an animal (or a mountain range) from the upright back of a human. In other cases, a modern word for "back" may come from a word related to "spine" (Italian schiena, Russian spina) or "shoulder, shoulder blade" (Spanish espalda, Polish plecy).
By synecdoche, "the whole body," especially with reference to clothing. Meaning "upright part of a chair" is from 1520s. To turn (one's) back on (someone or something) "ignore" is from early 14c. As a U.S. football position by 1876, so called from being behind the line of rushers; further distinguished according to relative position as quarterback, halfback, fullback.
To know (something) like the back of one's hand, implying familiarity, is first attested 1893 in a dismissive speech made to a character in Robert Louis Stevenson's "Catriona":
If I durst speak to herself, you may be certain I would never dream of trusting it to you; because I know you like the back of my hand, and all your blustering talk is that much wind to me.
The story, a sequel to "Kidnapped," has a Scottish setting and context, and the back of my hand to you was noted in the late 19th century as a Scottish expression meaning "I will have nothing to do with you" [see Longmuir's edition of Jamieson's Scottish dictionary]. In English generally, the back of (one's) hand has been used to imply contempt and rejection at least since 1300. Perhaps the connection of a menacing dismissal is what made Stevenson choose that particular anatomical reference.bad (adj.)c. 1300, "inadequate, unsatisfactory, worthless; unfortunate;" late 14c., "wicked, evil, vicious; counterfeit;" from 13c. in surnames (William Badde, Petri Badde, Asketinus Baddecheese, Rads Badinteheved). Rare before 1400, and evil was more common until c. 1700 as the ordinary antithesis of good. It has no apparent relatives in other languages.* Possibly from Old English derogatory term bæddel and its diminutive bædling "effeminate man, hermaphrodite, pederast," which probably are related to bædan "to defile."
The orig. word, AS. bæddel, ME. baddel, on account of its sinister import, is scarcely found in literature, but, like other words of similar sense, it prob. flourished in vulgar speech as an indefinite term of abuse, and at length, divested of its original meaning, emerged in literary use as a mere adj., badde, equiv. to the older evil. [Century Dictionary, 1897]
Comparable words in the other Indo-European languages tend to have grown from descriptions of specific qualities, such as "ugly," "defective," "weak," "faithless," "impudent," "crooked," "filthy" (such as Greek kakos, probably from the word for "excrement;" Russian plochoj, related to Old Church Slavonic plachu "wavering, timid;" Persian gast, Old Persian gasta-, related to gand "stench;" German schlecht, originally "level, straight, smooth," whence "simple, ordinary," then "bad").
Comparative and superlative forms badder, baddest were common 14c.-18c. and used as recently as Defoe (but not by Shakespeare), but yielded to comparative worse and superlative worst (which had belonged to evil and ill).
Meaning "uncomfortable, sorry" is 1839, American English colloquial. To go bad "putrefy" is from 1884. Not bad "fairly good" is by 1771. Ironic use as a word of approval is said to be at least since 1890s orally, originally in African-American vernacular, emerging in print 1928 in a jazz context. It might have emerged from the ambivalence of expressions like bad nigger, used as a term of reproach by whites, but among blacks sometimes representing one who stood up to injustice, but in the U.S. West bad man also had a certain ambivalence:
These are the men who do most of the killing in frontier communities, yet it is a noteworthy fact that the men who are killed generally deserve their fate. [Farmer & Henley]
*Farsi has bad in more or less the same sense as the English word, but this is regarded by linguists as a coincidence. The forms of the words diverge as they are traced back in time (Farsi bad comes from Middle Persian vat), and such accidental convergences exist across many languages, given the vast number of words in each and the limited range of sounds humans can make to signify them. Among other coincidental matches with English are Korean mani "many," Chinese pei "pay," Nahuatl (Aztecan) huel "well," Maya hol "hole."
Baghdad a pre-Islamic name apparently of Indo-European origin and probably meaning "gift of god," with the first element related to Russian bog "god" and the second to English donor. Marco Polo (13c.) wrote it Baudac.bailiwick (n.)"district of a bailiff, jurisdiction of a royal officer or under-sheriff," mid-15c., contraction of baillifwik, from bailiff (q.v.) + Middle English wik, from Old English wic "village" (see wick (n.2)). Figurative sense of "one's natural or proper sphere" recorded by 1843.bairn (n.)"child" (of either gender or any age), "son or daughter," Old English bearn "child, son, descendant," from Proto-Germanic *barnam- (source also of Old Saxon barn, Old Frisian barn, Old High German barn; lost in modern German and Dutch), from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children."
Originally a general English word, in modern English restricted to northern England and Scottish from c. 1700. This was the English form of the original Germanic word for "child" (see child). Dutch, Old High German kind, German Kind are from a prehistoric *gen-to-m "born," from the same root as Latin gignere (see genus and compare kind (n.)). Middle English had bairn-team "brood of children."baksheesh (n.)1620s (variously spelled), in India, Egypt, etc., "a gratuity, present in money," from Persian bakhshish, literally "gift," from verb bakhshidan "to give" (also "to forgive"), from PIE root *bhag- "to share out, apportion; to get a share."balalaika (n.)stringed instrument with a triangular body, 1788, from Russian balalaika, said to be related to balabolit' "to chatter, babble," an imitative word.balance (n.)early 13c., "scales, apparatus for weighing by comparison of mass," from Old French balance "balance, scales for weighing" (12c.), also in figurative sense; from Medieval Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx, from Latin (libra) bilanx "(scale) having two pans," possibly from Latin bis "twice" (from PIE root *dwo- "two") + lanx "dish, plate, scale of a balance," which is of uncertain origin.
The accounting sense "arithmetical difference between the two sides of an account" is from 1580s; meaning "sum necessary to balance the two sides of an account" is from 1620s. Meaning "what remains or is left over" is by 1788, originally in commercial slang. Sense of "physical equipoise" is from 1660s; the meaning "general harmony between parts" is from 1732.
Many figurative uses are from Middle English image of the scales in the hands of personified Justice, Fortune, Fate, etc.; thus in (the) balance "at risk, in jeopardy or danger" (c. 1300). Balance of power in the geopolitical sense "distribution of forces among nations so that one may not dominate another" is from 1701. Balance of trade "difference between the value of exports from a country and the value of imports into it" is from 1660s.balance (v.)1570s, "be equal with," from balance (n.). Meaning "serve as a counterpoise to" is from 1590s; that of "bring or keep in equilibrium" is from 1630s; that of "keep oneself in equilibrium" is from 1833. Of accounts, "settle by paying what remains due," from 1580s. Related: Balanced; balancing.bald (adj.)c. 1300, ballede, "wanting hair in some part where it naturally grows," of uncertain origin. Perhaps with Middle English -ede adjectival suffix, from Celtic bal "white patch, blaze" especially on the head of a horse or other animal (from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, gleam"). But Middle English Dictionary says probably formed on the root of ball (n.1) and compares Old Danish bældet.
Compare, from the same root, Sanskrit bhalam "brightness, forehead," Greek phalos "white," Latin fulcia "coot" (so called for the white patch on its head), Albanian bale "forehead." But connection with ball (n.1), on notion of "smooth, round" also has been suggested, and if not formed from it it was early associated with it. Sometimes figurative: "meager" (14c.), "without ornament" (16c.), "open, undisguised" (19c.). Of automobile tires with worn treads, by 1930. Bald eagle first attested 1680s; so called for its white head.
bale (v.)"to pack up in bales," 1750, from bale (n.). Related: Baled; baling.bale (n.)"large bundle or package of merchandise prepared for transportation," early 14c., from Old French bale "rolled-up bundle" (13c., Modern French balle), from Frankish or some other Germanic source (such as Old High German balla "ball"), from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." The English word perhaps is via Flemish or Dutch, which got it from French.baleen (n.)early 14c., "whalebone," from Old French balaine "whale, whalebone" (12c.), from Latin ballaena, from Greek phallaina "whale," which is apparently phallos "swollen penis" (perhaps because of a whale's body shape) with a fem. suffix. If so, it is from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." The b- (instead of -p-) for ph- substitution shows it entered Latin through a third language (Klein suggests Illyrian).balk (n.)also baulk, Old English balca "ridge, bank," from or influenced by Old Norse balkr "ridge of land," especially between two plowed furrows, both from Proto-Germanic *balkon- (source also of Old Saxon balko, Danish bjelke, Old Frisian balka, Old High German balcho, German Balken "beam, rafter"), from PIE root *bhelg- "beam, plank" (source also of Latin fulcire "to prop up, support," fulcrum "bedpost;" Lithuanian balžiena "cross-bar;" and possibly Greek phalanx "trunk, log, line of battle"). Italian balco "a beam" is from Germanic (see balcony).
In old use especially "an unplowed strip in a field, often along and marking a boundary." Modern senses are figurative, representing the balk as a hindrance or obstruction (see balk (v.)). In baseball, "a motion made by the pitcher as if to deliver the ball, but without doing so," first attested 1845 perhaps from the notion of "a piece missed in plowing" as "a blunder, a failure."
ball (n.1)"round object, compact spherical body," also "a ball used in a game," c. 1200, probably from an unrecorded Old English *beal, *beall (evidenced by the diminutive bealluc "testicle"), or from cognate Old Norse bollr "ball," from Proto-Germanic *balluz (source also of Dutch bal, Flemish bal, Old High German ballo, German Ball), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."
Meaning "testicle" is from early 14c. (compare ballocks). Ball of the foot is from mid-14c. Meaning "rounded missile used in warfare" is from late 14c. A ball as an object in a sports game is recorded from c. 1200; meaning "a game played with a ball" is from mid-14c. Baseball sense of "pitch that does not cross the plate within the strike zone" is by 1889, probably short for high ball, low ball, etc.
Ball-point pen is by 1946. Ball of fire when first recorded in 1821 referred to "a glass of brandy;" as "spectacularly successful striver" it is c. 1900. Many phrases are from sports: To have the ball "hold the advantage" is from c. 1400. To be on the ball is from 1912; to keep (one's) eye on the ball is from 1907. Figurative use of ball in (someone's) court is by 1963, from tennis.ball (n.2)"dancing party, social assembly for dancing," 1630s, from French, from Old French baller "to dance," from Late Latin ballare "to dance," from Greek ballizein "to dance, jump about," literally "to throw one's body" (ancient Greek dancing being highly athletic), from PIE root *gwele- "to throw, reach." Extended meaning "very enjoyable time" is American English slang from 1945, perhaps 1930s in African-American vernacular.ball (v.)1650s, "make into a ball," from ball (n.1). Intransitive sense of "become like a ball, form a compact cluster" is from 1713; that of "to copulate" is first recorded 1940s in jazz slang, either from the noun sense of "testicle" or "enjoyable time" (from ball (n.2)). Related: Balled; balling. ballad (n.)late 15c., from Old French ballade "dancing song" (13c.), from Old Provençal ballada "(poem for a) dance," from balar "to dance," from Late Latin ballare "to dance" (see ball (n.2)). Originally a song intended to accompany a dance; later "a short narrative poem suitable for singing" (17c.).ballet (n.)"theatrical, costumed dance and pantomime performance telling a story and representing characters and passions by gestures and groupings," 1660s, from French ballette from Italian balletto, diminutive of ballo "a dance," from Late Latin ballare "to dance," from Greek ballizein "to dance, jump about" (see ball (n.2)).balletomane (n.)by 1930, from ballet + -mane, from Greek -manes "ardent admirer," related to mania "madness" (see mania).ballista (n.)ancient war engine used for throwing missiles, late 14c., from Latin ballista, literally "a throwing machine," from Greek ballein "to throw" (from PIE root *gwele- "to throw, reach").ballistic (adj.)1775, "pertaining to construction and use of thrown objects," ultimately from Greek ballein "to throw" (from PIE root *gwele- "to throw, reach"). Of rockets or missiles (ones that are guided while under propulsion, but fall freely), from 1949. Ballistic missile first attested 1954; they attain extreme heights, hence figurative expression go ballistic (1981) "become irrationally angry."ballistics (n.)"art of throwing large missiles; science of the motion of projectiles," 1753, with -ics + Latin ballista "ancient military machine for hurling stones," from Greek ballistes, from ballein "to throw, to throw so as to hit," also in a looser sense, "to put, place, lay;" from PIE root *gwele- "to throw, reach," with extended sense "to pierce."ballocks (n.)"testicles," from Old English beallucas, plural diminutive, from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."balloon (n.)1570s, "a game played with a large inflated leather ball tossed, batted, or kicked back and forth," also the ball itself (1590s), from Italian pallone "large ball," from palla "ball," from a Germanic source akin to Langobardic palla (from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell") + -one, suffix indicating great size. Perhaps also borrowed in part from French ballon (16c.), altered (after balle) from Italian pallone. Also see -oon.
Meaning "bag or hollow vessel filled with heated air or (later) hydrogen or helium so as to rise and float in the atmosphere" is 1784, after the Montgolfier brothers' flights. As a toy air- or gas-filled inflatable bag, from 1858; as "outline containing words in a comic engraving" it dates from 1844. Balloon-frame (n.) "structure of light timber fitted together to form the skeleton of a building" is from 1853.balloon (v.)1792, "to go up in a balloon;" 1841, "to swell, puff up;" from balloon (n.). Related: Ballooned; ballooning.ballot (n.)1540s, "small ball used in voting," also "secret vote taken by ballots," from Italian pallotte, diminutive of palla "ball," for small balls used as counters in secret voting, from a Germanic source, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Earliest references are to Venice. By 1776 extended to tickets or sheets of paper used in secret voting. Ballot box attested from 1670s; metonymically from 1834 as "system or practice of voting by ballot."ballot (v.)1540s, "to vote by secret method" (such as ballot balls), from ballot (n.). Related: Balloted; balloting. Baltic (adj.)1580s, "pertaining to the brackish sea between the Scandinavian peninsula and Eastern Europe," from Medieval Latin Balticus, perhaps from Lithuanian baltas "white" or Scandinavian balta "belt; strait" (in reference to its narrow entranceway). In German, it is Ostsee, literally "east sea." From 1887 as the name of a language group comprising Lithuanian, Lettish, and Old Prussian.Baluchistan historical country or region east of Persia between Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea, now forming southwestern Pakistan, from the people-name Baluchi (in English from 1610s) + -stan.baluchitherium (n.)ancient mammal, 1913, Modern Latin, from Baluchi (see Baluchistan) + Greek therion "beast" (from PIE root *ghwer- "wild beast"). So called because its fossils originally were found there.ban (n.1)c. 1300, "proclamation or edict of an overlord," from Old English (ge)bann "proclamation, summons, command" and cognate Old French ban "decree, announcement," which is from a Germanic language, from Proto-Germanic *bannan "to speak publicly" (used in reference to various sorts of proclamations), "command; summon; outlaw, forbid" (see ban (v.)). Meaning "an authoritative prohibition" is from 1660s. There are noun forms in most of the Germanic languages, from the verbs. Compare banns.ban (v.)Old English bannan "to summon, command, proclaim," from Proto-Germanic *bannan "to speak publicly" (used in reference to various sorts of proclamations), "command; summon; outlaw, forbid" (source also of Old Frisian banna "command, proclaim," Old High German bannan "to command or forbid under threat of punishment," German bannen "banish, expel, curse"), from suffixed form of PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (source also of Old Irish bann "law," Armenian ban "word").
From mid-12c. as "to curse, condemn, pronounce a curse upon;" from late 14c. as "to prohibit;" these senses likely are via the Old Norse cognate banna "to curse, prohibit," and probably in part from Old French banir "to summon, banish" (see banish) and was a borrowing from Germanic. The sense evolution in Germanic was from "speak" to "proclaim a threat" to (in Norse, German, etc.) "to curse, anathematize."
The Germanic root, borrowed in Latin and French, has been productive: banal, bandit, contraband, etc. Related: Banned; banning. Banned in Boston dates from 1920s, in allusion to the excessive zeal and power of that city's Watch and Ward Society. Ban the bomb as a slogan of the nuclear disarmament movement is from 1955.ban (n.2)1610s, "Croatian military chief," a title given to those who governed and guarded the southern marches of Hungary, later to the Austrian-appointed governors of Croatia and Slovenia, from Serbo-Croatian ban "lord, master, ruler," from Persian ban "prince, lord, chief, governor," which is cognate with Sanskrit pati "guards, protects." Hence banat "district governed by a ban," with Latinate suffix -atus. The Persian word is said to have gotten into Slavic via the Avars.banal (adj.)"trite, commonplace," 1840, from French banal, "belonging to a manor; common, hackneyed, commonplace," from Old French banel "communal" (13c.), from ban "decree; legal control; announcement; authorization; payment for use of a communal oven, mill, etc.," from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *bannan "to speak publicly, used of different kinds of proclamations (see ban (v.)).
The sense evolved from the word's use in designating things like ovens or mills that were used in common by serfs, or else in reference to compulsory feudal military service; in either case it was generalized in French through "open to everyone" to "commonplace, ordinary," to "trite, petty." The word was earlier used in English with a sense "pertaining to compulsory feudal service" (1753). Related: Banalize; banalization.band (n.1)"a flat strip," also "something that binds," Middle English bende, from Old English bend "bond, fetter, shackle, chain, that by which someone or something is bound; ribbon, ornament, chaplet, crown," with later senses and spelling from cognate Old Norse band and technical senses from Old French bande "strip, edge, side" (12c., Old North French bende), all three ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bindan, from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind."
The meaning "a flat strip" (late 14c.) is from French. In Middle English, this was sometimes distinguished by the spelling bande, bonde, but with loss of terminal -e the words have fully merged via the notion of "flat strip of flexible material used to wind around something."
Meaning "broad stripe of color, ray of colored light" is from late 14c.; the electronics sense of "range of frequencies or wavelengths" is from 1922. Most of the figurative senses ("legal or moral commitment; captivity, imprisonment," etc.) have passed into bond (n.), which originally was a phonetic variant of this band. The Middle English form of the word is retained in heraldic bend (n.2) "broad diagonal stripe on a coat-of-arms."bandanna (n.)also often bandana, 1752, from Hindi bandhnu, a method of dyeing, from Sanskrit badhnati "binds" (because the cloth is tied in different places like modern tie-dye), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind." Perhaps to English via Portuguese. Etymologically, the colors and spots are what makes it a bandanna.bandit (n.)"lawless robber, brigand" (especially as part of an organized band), 1590s, from Italian bandito (plural banditi) "outlaw," past participle of bandire "proscribe, banish," from Vulgar Latin *bannire "to proclaim, proscribe," from Proto-Germanic *bannan "to speak publicly" (used in reference to various sorts of proclamations), "command; summon; outlaw, forbid" (see ban (v.)).
Vulgar Latin *bannire (or its Frankish cognate *bannjan) in Old French became banir, which, with lengthened stem, became English banish.bandolier (n.)1570s, "shoulder belt" (for a wallet, etc.), from French bandouiliere (16c.), from Italian bandoliera or Spanish bandolera, from diminutive of banda "a scarf, sash," a Germanic loan-word related to Gothic bandwa (see banner). In some cases, directly from Spanish to English as bandoleer. Meaning "ammunition belt for a musket" is from 1590s; hence bandolero "highwayman, robber" (1832), from Spanish, literally "man who wears a bandoleer."banish (v.)late 14c., banischen, "to condemn (someone) by proclamation or edict to leave the country, to outlaw by political or judicial authority," from banniss-, extended stem of Old French banir "announce, proclaim; levy; forbid; banish, proclaim an outlaw" (12c., Modern French bannir), from a Germanic source (perhaps Frankish *bannjan "to order or prohibit under penalty"), from Proto-Germanic *bannan (see ban (v.)). The French word might be by way of Medieval Latin bannire, also from Germanic (compare bandit). The general sense of "send or drive away, expel" is from c. 1400. Related: Banished; banishing.
To banish is, literally, to put out of a community or country by ban or civil interdict, and indicates a complete removal out of sight, perhaps to a distance. To exile is simply to cause to leave one's place or country, and is often used reflexively: it emphasizes the idea of leaving home, while banish emphasizes rather that of being forced by some authority to leave it .... [Century Dictionary]
banlieue (n.)French word for "suburbs, outskirts, outlying precincts of a town or city," 13c., from Vulgar Latin *banleuca, from Germanic *ban (see ban (n.1)) + leuca "a league" (of distance, in Medieval Latin, "indefinite extent of territory;" see league (n.2)). So, originally, "area around a town within which the bans -- rules and proclamations of that place -- were in force; territory outside the walls but within the legal jurisdiction." German had a similar formation, bann-meile (see mile (n.)), in the same sense; and compare Middle English bane cruces "crosses marking the boundary of territory subject to the edicts or laws of a certain ruler."banner (n.)c. 1200, "piece of cloth attached to the upper end of a pole or staff," from Old French baniere "flag, banner, standard" (12c., Modern French bannière), from Late Latin bandum "standard," borrowed from Frankish or another West Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *bandwa- "identifying sign, banner, standard," also "company under a banner" (source also of Gothic bandwa "a sign"), from suffixed form of PIE root *bha- (1) "to shine."
Formerly the standard of a king, lord, or knight, behind which his followers marched to war and to which they rallied in battle. Figurative sense of "anything displayed as a profession of principles" is from early 14c. Of newspaper headlines that stream across the top of the page, from 1913.
banneret (n.)c. 1300, an order of knighthood, originally in reference to one who could lead his men into battle under his own banner (q.v.). Later it meant one who received rank for valiant deeds done in the king's presence in battle. Also "a small banner" (c. 1300, also bannerette).bannock (n.)"thick flat cake, bread baked on the hearth or under ashes," Old English bannuc, from Gaelic bannach "a cake," which is perhaps a loan-word from Latin panicium, from panis "bread," from PIE root *pa- "to feed."banns (n.)"proclamation or notice given in a church of an intended marriage," mid-15c. (late 12c. in Anglo-Latin), from Old English bannan "to summon, command, proclaim" (see ban (v.)). Also probably partly from Old French ban "announcement, proclamation, banns, authorization," from Frankish *ban or some other Germanic cognate of the Old English word. They were made part of ecclesiastic legislation 1215 by the fourth Lateran council.
banshee (n.)in Irish folklore, a type of female fairy believed to foretell deaths by singing in a mournful, unearthly voice, 1771, from phonetic spelling of Irish bean sidhe "female of the Elves," from bean "woman" (from PIE root *gwen- "woman") + Irish sidhe (Gaelic sith) "fairy" or sid "fairy mound" (from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit"). Sidhe sometimes is confused with sithe, genitive of sith "peace."bar (v.)c. 1300, "to fasten (a gate, etc.) with a bar," from bar (n.1); sense of "to obstruct, prevent" is recorded by 1570s. Expression bar none "without exception" is recorded from 1866.bar (n.1)late 12c., "stake or rod of iron used to fasten a door or gate," from Old French barre "beam, bar, gate, barrier" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *barra "bar, barrier," which some suggest is from Gaulish *barros "the bushy end" [Gamillscheg, etc.], but OED regards this as "discredited" because it "in no way suits the sense."
General sense of "anything which obstructs, hinders, or impedes" is from 1530s. Of soap, by 1833; of candy, by 1906 (the process itself dates to the 1840s), both from resemblance of shape. Meaning "bank of sand across a harbor or river mouth" is from 1580s, probably so called because it was an obstruction to navigation. Bar graph is attested from 1925. Bar code first recorded 1963. Behind bars "in prison" is attested by 1934, American English. Welsh bar "a bar, rail," Irish barra "a bar, spike" are said to be from English; German Barre, Danish barre, Russian barŭ are from Medieval Latin or Romanic.bar (n.4)unit of pressure, coined 1903 from Greek baros "weight," which is related to barys "heavy," from PIE root *gwere- (1) "heavy."
bar (n.2)"tavern," 1590s, so called in reference to the bars of the barrier or counter over which drinks or food were served to customers (see bar (n.1)).bar (n.3)"whole body of lawyers, the legal profession," 1550s, a sense which derives ultimately from the railing that separated benchers from the hall in the Inns of Court (see bar (n.1)). Students who had attained a certain standing were "called" to it to take part in the important exercises of the house. After c. 1600, however, this was popularly assumed to mean the bar in a courtroom, the wooden railing marking off the area around the judge's seat, where prisoners stood for arraignment and where a barrister (q.v.) stood to plead. As the place where the business of court was done, bar in this sense had become synonymous with court by early 14c.barbican (n.)"outer fortification of a city or castle," mid-13c., from Old French barbacane "exterior fortification" (12c.), a general Romanic word, said to be ultimately from Arabic or Persian (compare bab-khanah "gate-house"); according to Watkins from Old Iranian compound *pari-varaka-, from *pari- "around" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, around") + *varaka-, from PIE root *wer- (4) "to cover."
bard (n.)"ancient Celtic minstrel-poet," mid-15c., from Scottish, from Old Celtic bardos "poet, singer," from Celtic *bardo-, possibly from PIE *gwredho- "he who makes praises," suffixed form of root *gwere- (2) "to favor."
In historical times, a term of great respect among the Welsh, but one of contempt among the Scots (who considered them itinerant troublemakers). Subsequently idealized by Scott in the more ancient sense of "lyric poet, singer." Poetic use of the word in English is from Greek bardos, Latin bardus, both from Gaulish.
All vagabundis, fulis, bardis, ſcudlaris, and ſiclike idill pepill, ſall be brint on the cheek, and ſcourgit with wandis, except thay find ſum craft to win thair living. [from a 16c. list of historical laws of Scottish kings, in Sir James Balfour, "Practicks: Or, a System of the More Ancient Law of Scotland," 1754]
bare (adj.)Old English bær "naked, uncovered, unclothed," from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (source also of German bar, Old Norse berr, Dutch baar), from PIE *bhoso- "naked" (source also of Armenian bok "naked;" Old Church Slavonic bosu, Lithuanian basas "barefoot"). Meaning "sheer, absolute" (c. 1200) is from the notion of "complete in itself."bargain (v.)c. 1400, "engage in business transactions, discuss or arrange terms of a transaction; to vend or sell," from Old French bargaignier "to haggle over the price" (12c., Modern French barguigner), perhaps from Frankish *borganjan "to lend" or some other Germanic source, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *borgan "to pledge, lend, borrow" (source also of Old High German borgen; Old English borgian; from PIE root *bhergh- (1) "to hide, protect;" compare borrow).
Diez and others suggest that the French word comes from Late Latin barca "a barge," because it "carries goods to and fro." There are difficulties with both suggestions. Related: Bargained; bargaining. To bargain for "arrange for beforehand" is from 1801.
bargain (n.)mid-14c., "business transaction or agreement; negotiations, dealing," also "that which is acquired by bargaining," from Old French bargaine "business, trade, transaction, deal," from bargaignier (see bargain (v.)). Meaning "article priced for special sale, something bought or sold at a low price" is from 1899; a bargain basement (1899) originally was a basement floor in a store where bargains were displayed. Into the bargain "over and above what was stipulated," hence "moreover," is from 1630s.bariatric (adj.)"of or pertaining to obesity," 1976, from Greek baros "weight, a weight, burden," related to barys "heavy," from PIE root *gwere- (1) "heavy" + -iatric.
baritone (n.)c. 1600, "male voice between tenor and bass," from Italian baritono, from Greek barytonos "deep-toned, deep-sounding," from barys "heavy, deep," also, of sound, "strong, deep, bass" (from PIE root *gwere- (1) "heavy") + tonos "tone," from PIE root *ten- "to stretch."
Technically, "ranging from lower A in bass clef to lower F in treble clef." Meaning "singer having a baritone voice" is from 1821. As a type of brass band instrument, it is attested from 1949. As an adjective, 1729 in reference to the voice, 1786 of musical instruments (originally the saxophone).
barium (n.)1808, coined in Modern Latin by its discoverer, English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy, because it was present in the mineral barytes "heavy spar" (barium sulphate), so named by Lavoisier from Greek barys "heavy," from PIE root *gwere- (1) "heavy." The metal is actually relatively light. With chemical ending -ium. Related: Baric.
barm (n.)Old English beorma "yeast, leaven," also "head of a beer," from Proto-Germanic *bhermen- "yeast" (source also of Dutch berm, Middle Low German barm), from suffixed form of PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn."barmy (adj.)1530s, "frothing, covered with barm;" see barm + -y (2). Figurative sense of "excited, flighty, bubbling with excitement" is from c. 1600. Meaning "foolish" (1892) is probably an alteration of balmy (q.v.).Barnard masc. proper name of Germanic origin, literally "Bear-bold;" see bear (n.) + hard (adj.). In Old French Bernart, in German Bernard.
barometer (n.)1660s, from Greek baros "weight" (from suffixed form of PIE root *gwere- (1) "heavy") + -meter. The name probably was coined (and certainly popularized) by English scientist Robert Boyle (1627-1691). The instrument was invented 1643 by Italian physicist Evangelista Torricelli and was at first known as the Torricelli tube.
barouche (n.)type of large, four-wheeled carriage, 1801, from dialectal German barutsche, from Italian baroccio "chariot," originally "two-wheeled car," from Latin birotus "two-wheeled," from bi- "two" (from PIE root *dwo- "two") + rotus "wheel," from rotare "go around" (see rotary). Frenchified in English, but the word is not French.barrow (n.2)"mound, hill, grave-mound," Old English beorg (West Saxon), berg (Anglian) "barrow, mountain, hill, mound," from Proto-Germanic *bergaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German berg "mountain," Old North bjarg "rock"), from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives referring to hills and hill-forts. Obsolete by c. 1400 except in place-names and southwest England dialect; revived by modern archaeology. Meaning "mound erected over a grave" was in late Old English. Barrow-wight first recorded 1869 in Eirikr Magnusson and William Morris's translation of the Icelandic saga of Grettir the Strong.
In place-names used of small continuously curving hills, smaller than a dun, with the summit typically occupied by a single farmstead or by a village church with the village beside the hill, and also of burial mounds. [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names]
barrow (n.1)"flat, rectangular frame with projecting handles for carrying a load," c. 1300, barewe, probably from an unrecorded Old English *bearwe "basket, barrow," from beran "to bear, to carry," from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry." The original (hand-barrow) had no wheel and required two persons to carry it.base (n.)"bottom of anything considered as its support, foundation, pedestal," early 14c., from Old French bas "depth" (12c.), from Latin basis "foundation," from Greek basis "a stepping, a step, that on which one steps or stands, pedestal," from bainein "to go, walk, step," from PIE root *gwa- "to go, come."
The military sense "secure ground from which operations proceed" is from 1860. The chemical sense "compound substance which unites with an acid to form a salt" (1810) was introduced in French 1754 by French chemist Guillaume-François Rouelle (1703-1770). Sporting sense of "starting point" is from 1690s, also "destination of a runner" (1812). As a "safe" spot in a tag-like or ball game, suggested from mid-15c. (as the name of the game later called prisoner's base). Hence base-runner (1867), base-hit (1874), etc. Meaning "resources on which something draws for operation" (as in power-base, database, etc.) is by 1959.base (adj.)late 14c., "low, of little height," from Old French bas "low, lowly, mean," from Late Latin bassus "thick, stumpy, low" (used only as a cognomen in classical Latin, humilis being there the usual word for "low in stature or position"), possibly from Oscan, or Celtic, or related to Greek basson, comparative of bathys "deep."
Meaning "low on the social scale" is from late 15c.; that of "low in the moral scale" is first attested 1530s in English. Meaning "benefiting an inferior person or thing, unworthy" is from 1590s. Base metals (c. 1600) were worthless in contrast to noble or precious metals. Related: Basely.base (v.)1580s, "serve as a foundation for;" 1841, "to place on a foundation," from base (n.). Related: Based; basing.bashaw (n.)1530s, earlier Englishing of pasha.basis (n.)1570s, "bottom or foundation" (of something material), from Latin basis "foundation," from Greek basis "a going, a step; a stand, base, that whereon one stands," from bainein "to go, walk, step," from PIE root *gwa- "to go, come." Transferred and figurative senses (of immaterial things) are from c. 1600.Bauhaus (n.)1923, from German Bauhaus, literally "architecture-house;" name of a school of design founded in Weimar, Germany, 1919 by Walter Gropius (1883-1969), later extended to the principles it embodied. First element is bau "building, construction, structure," from Old High German buan "to dwell" (from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow"). For second element, see house (n.).bawd (n.)a complicated word of uncertain history. First attested late 15c. in the sense "lewd person" (of either sex; since c. 1700 applied exclusively to women); probably [Middle English Dictionary] from Old French baud "gay, licentious" (from Frankish *bald "bold" or some such Germanic source; see bold), despite the doubts of OED. The 15c. English word perhaps is a shortening of baude-strote "procurer or procuress of prostitutes" (c. 1300).
For the French sense evolution from "bold" to "lewd," compare Old French baudise "ardor, joy, elation, act of boldness, presumption;" baudie "elation, high spirits," fole baudie "bawdry, shamelessness." The Old French word also is the source of French baudet "donkey," in Picardy dialect "loose woman."
The second element in baude-strote would be trot "one who runs errands," or Germanic *strutt (see strut (v.)). There was an Old French baudestrote, baudetrot of the same meaning (13c.), and this may be the direct source of Middle English baude-strote. The obsolete bronstrops "procuress," frequently found in Middleton's comedies, probably is an alteration of baude-strote.bazaar (n.)1580s, from Italian bazarra, ultimately from Persian bazar (Pahlavi vacar) "a market," from Old Iranian *vaha-carana "sale, traffic," from suffixed form of PIE root *wes- (1) "to buy, sell" (see venal) + PIE *kwoleno-, suffixed form of root *kwel- (1) "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell."be (v.)Old English beon, beom, bion "be, exist, come to be, become, happen," from Proto-Germanic *biju- "I am, I will be." This "b-root" is from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow," and in addition to the words in English it yielded German present first and second person singular (bin, bist, from Old High German bim "I am," bist "thou art"), Latin perfective tenses of esse (fui "I was," etc.), Old Church Slavonic byti "be," Greek phu- "become," Old Irish bi'u "I am," Lithuanian būti "to be," Russian byt' "to be," etc.
The modern verb to be in its entirety represents the merger of two once-distinct verbs, the "b-root" represented by be and the am/was verb, which was itself a conglomerate. Roger Lass ("Old English") describes the verb as "a collection of semantically related paradigm fragments," while Weekley calls it "an accidental conglomeration from the different Old English dial[ect]s." It is the most irregular verb in Modern English and the most common. Collective in all Germanic languages, it has eight different forms in Modern English:
BE (infinitive, subjunctive, imperative); AM (present 1st person singular); ARE (present 2nd person singular and all plural); IS (present 3rd person singular); WAS (past 1st and 3rd persons singular); WERE (past 2nd person singular, all plural; subjunctive); BEING (progressive & present participle; gerund); BEEN (perfect participle).
The paradigm in Old English was: eom, beo (present 1st person singular); eart, bist (present 2nd person singular); is, bið (present 3rd person singular); sind, sindon, beoð (present plural in all persons); wæs (past 1st and 3rd person singular); wære (past 2nd person singular); wæron (past plural in all persons); wære (singular subjunctive preterit); wæren (plural subjunctive preterit).
The "b-root" had no past tense in Old English, but often served as future tense of am/was. In 13c. it took the place of the infinitive, participle and imperative forms of am/was. Later its plural forms (we beth, ye ben, they be) became standard in Middle English and it made inroads into the singular (I be, thou beest, he beth), but forms of are claimed this turf in the 1500s and replaced be in the plural. For the origin and evolution of the am/was branches of this tangle, see am and was.
That but this blow Might be the be all, and the end all. ["Macbeth" I.vii.5]
beacon (n.)Old English beacen "sign, portent, lighthouse," from West Germanic *baukna "beacon, signal" (source also of Old Frisian baken, Old Saxon bokan, Old High German bouhhan); probably from Proto-Germanic *baukna- "beacon, signal," from suffixed form of PIE root *bha- (1) "to shine." Figurative use from c. 1600.
beadle (n.)Old English bydel "herald, messenger from an authority, preacher," from Proto-Germanic *budilaz "herald" (source also of Dutch beul, Old High German butil, German Büttel "herald"), from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware."
Related to Old English beodan "to proclaim" (see bid (v.)). Sense of "warrant officer, tipstaff" was in late Old English; that of "petty parish officer," which has given the job a bad reputation, is from 1590s. French bédeau (Old French bedel, 12c.), Spanish bedel, Italian bidello are Germanic loan-words.beam (v.)"emit rays of light," c. 1400, from beam (n.) in the "ray of light" sense. Sense of "shine radiantly" is from 1630s; that of "smile radiantly" is from 1804; that of "to direct radio transmissions" is from 1927. Related: Beamed; beaming.beam (n.)Old English beam originally "living tree," but by late 10c. also "rafter, post, ship's timber," from Proto-Germanic *baumaz "tree" (source also of Old Frisian bam "tree, gallows, beam," Middle Dutch boom, Old High German boum, German Baum "tree," and perhaps also (with unexplained sound changes) Old Norse baðmr, Gothic bagms), perhaps from PIE verbal root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow." The shift from *-au- to -ea- is regular in Old English.
Meaning "ray of light" developed in Old English, probably because beam was used by Bede to render Latin columna (lucis), the Biblical "pillar of fire." Meaning "directed flow of radiation" is from 1906. To be on the beam "going in the right direction" (1941) originally was an aviator's term for "to follow the course indicated by a radio beam." Nautical sense of "one of the horizontal transverse timbers holding a ship together" is from early 13c., hence "greatest breadth of a ship," and slang broad in the beam, by 1894 of ships, of persons, "wide-hipped," by 1938. bear (v.)Old English beran "to carry, bring; bring forth, give birth to, produce; to endure without resistance; to support, hold up, sustain; to wear" (class IV strong verb; past tense bær, past participle boren), from Proto-Germanic *beran (source also of Old Saxon beran, Old Frisian bera, Old High German beran, German gebären, Old Norse bera, Gothic bairan "to carry, bear, give birth to"), from PIE root *bher- (1) "carry a burden, bring," also "give birth" (though only English and German strongly retain this sense, and Russian has beremennaya "pregnant").
Old English past tense bær became Middle English bare; alternative bore began to appear c. 1400, but bare remained the literary form till after 1600. Past participle distinction of borne for "carried" and born for "given birth" is from late 18c.
Many senses are from notion of "move onward by pressure." From c. 1300 as "possess as an attribute or characteristic." Meaning "sustain without sinking" is from 1520s; to bear (something) in mind is from 1530s; meaning "tend, be directed (in a certain way)" is from c. 1600. To bear down "proceed forcefully toward" (especially in nautical use) is from 1716. To bear up is from 1650s as "be firm, have fortitude."bear (n.)"large carnivorous or omnivorous mammal of the family Ursidae," Old English bera "a bear," from Proto-Germanic *bero, literally "the brown (one)" (source also of Old Norse björn, Middle Dutch bere, Dutch beer, Old High German bero, German Bär), usually said to be from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown." There was perhaps a PIE *bheros "dark animal" (compare beaver (n.1) and Greek phrynos "toad," literally "the brown animal").
Greek arktos and Latin ursus retain the PIE root word for "bear" (*rtko; see arctic), but it is believed to have been ritually replaced in the northern branches because of hunters' taboo on names of wild animals (compare the Irish equivalent "the good calf," Welsh "honey-pig," Lithuanian "the licker," Russian medved "honey-eater"). Others connect the Germanic word with Latin ferus "wild," as if it meant "the wild animal (par excellence) of the northern woods."
Symbolic of Russia since 1794. Used of rude, gruff, uncouth men since 1570s. Stock market meaning "speculator for a fall" is 1709 shortening of bearskin jobber (from the proverb sell the bearskin before one has caught the bear); i.e. "one who sells stock for future delivery, expecting that meanwhile prices will fall." Paired with bull from c. 1720. Bear claw as a type of large pastry is from 1942, originally chiefly western U.S. Bear-garden (1590s) was a place where bears were kept for the amusement of spectators.
beard (n.)"close growth of hair on the chin and lower face, normally characteristic of an adult male" (that of the upper lip being distinguished in Modern English as the mustache), Old English beard "beard," from West Germanic *barthaz (source also of Old Frisian berd, Middle Dutch baert, Old High German bart, German bart), seemingly from PIE root *bhardhā- "beard" (source also of Old Church Slavonic brada, Russia boroda, Lithuanian barzda, Old Prussian bordus, and perhaps Latin barba "beard"). Old French berd is from Germanic.
The Greek and Roman Churches have long disputed about the beard. While the Romanists have at different times practised shaving, the Greeks, on the contrary, have strenuously defended the cause of long beards. Leo III. (795 AD) was the first shaved Pope. Pope Gregory IV., after the lapse of only 30 years, fulminated a Bull against bearded priests. In the 12th century the prescription of the beard was extended to the laity. Pope Honorius III. to disguise his disfigured lip, allowed his beard to grow. Henry I. of England was so much moved by a sermon directed against his beard that he resigned it to the barber. Frederick Barbarossa is said to have been equally tractable. [Tom Robinson, M.D., "Beards," "St. James's Magazine," 1881]
Pubic hair sense is from 1600s (but neþir berd "pubic hair" is from late 14c.); in the 1811 "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," the phrase beard-splitter is defined as, "A man much given to wenching" (compare beaver in the slang genital sense).
bearing (n.)mid-13c., "a carrying of oneself, deportment," verbal noun from bear (v.). Meaning "direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen or is moving" is from 1630s; to take (one's) bearings is from 1711. Mechanical sense of "part of a machine that 'bears' the friction" is from 1791.beatific (adj.)"blissful, imparting bliss," 1630s, from French béatifique or directly from Late Latin beatificus, from Latin beatus "blessed, happy," past participle of beare "make happy, bless" (see Beatrice) + -ficus "making doing," from combining form of facere "to do, to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Related: Beatifical (c. 1600); beatifically.beatify (v.)1530s, "to make very happy," from Middle French béatifer, from Late Latin beatificare "make happy, make blessed," from Latin beatus "supremely happy, blessed" (past participle of beare "make happy, bless;" see Beatrice) + -ficare, combining form of facere "to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). The Roman Catholic Church sense of "to pronounce as being in heavenly bliss" (1620s) is the first step toward canonization. Related: Beatified; beatifying.beaver (n.2)"lower face-guard of a helmet," early 15c., from Old French baviere, originally "child's bib," from bave "saliva."beaver (n.1)"large amphibious quadruped rodent of the genus Castor," Old English beofor, befer (earlier bebr), from Proto-Germanic *bebruz (source also of Old Saxon bibar, Old Norse bjorr, Middle Dutch and Dutch bever, Low German bever, Old High German bibar, German Biber), from PIE *bhebhrus, reduplication of root *bher- (2) "bright; brown" (source also of Lithuanian bebrus, Czech bobr, Welsh befer; see bear (n.) for the likely reason for this).
Formerly valued and hunted for its secretions (see castor) and for its fur, which was used in the manufacture of hats, so much so that beaver could mean "hat" from 1520s and continued so into 19c. even after they began to be made of silk or other material. They were hunted to extinction in Great Britain in the 16th century but have lately been reintroduced. The gynecological sense ("female genitals, especially with a display of pubic hair") is 1927 British slang, perhaps transferred from earlier meaning "a bearded man" (1910), or directly from the appearance of split beaver pelts.
beche-de-mer (n.)"sea-slug eaten as a delicacy in the Western Pacific," 1814, from French bêche-de-mer, literally "spade of the sea," a folk-etymology alteration of Portuguese bicho do mar "sea-slug," literally "worm of the sea."beckon (v.)Old English gebecnian (West Saxon beacnian) "to make a mute sign, signal by a nod or gesture," from Proto-Germanic *bauknjan (source also of Old Saxon boknian, Old High German bouhnen), from PIE root *bha- (1) "to shine" (compare beacon). Related: Beckoned; beckoning. The noun is attested from 1718, from the verb.
become (v.)Old English becuman "happen, come about, befall," also "meet with, fall in with; arrive, approach, enter," from Proto-Germanic *bikweman (source also of Dutch bekomen, Old High German biqueman "obtain," German bekommen, Gothic biquiman). A compound of the sources of be- and come.
Meaning "change from one state of existence to another" is from 12c. Older sense preserved in what has become of it? It drove out Old English weorðan "to befall." Meaning "to look well, suit or be suitable to" is early 14c., from earlier sense of "to agree with, be fitting or proper" (early 13c.).bed (n.)Old English bedd "bed, couch, resting place; garden plot," from Proto-Germanic *badjam "sleeping place dug in the ground" (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon bed, Middle Dutch bedde, Old Norse beðr, Old High German betti, German Bett, Gothic badi "bed"), from PIE root *bhedh- "to dig, pierce" (source also of Hittite beda- "to pierce, prick," Greek bothyros "pit," Latin fossa "ditch," Lithuanian bedu, besti "to dig," Breton bez "grave").
Both the sleeping and gardening senses are found in Old English; the specific application to planting is found also in Middle High German and is the only sense of Danish bed. Meaning "bottom of a lake, sea, or watercourse" is from 1580s. Geological sense of "a thick layer, stratum" is from 1680s. Bed and board "in bed and at the table" (early 13c.) was a term in old law applied to conjugal duties of man and wife; it also could mean "meals and lodging, room and board" (mid-15c.). Bed-and-breakfast in reference to overnight accommodations is from 1838; as a noun, in reference to a place offering such, by 1967.
bedstead (n.)"framework for supporting a bed," c. 1400, from bed (n.) + stead.beef (v.)"to complain," slang, 1888, American English, from noun meaning "complaint" (1880s). The noun meaning "argument" is recorded from 1930s. The origin and signification are unclear; perhaps it traces to the common late 19c. complaint of soldiers about the quantity or quality of beef rations.beef (n.)c. 1300, "an ox, bull, or cow," also the flesh of one when killed, used as food, from Old French buef "ox; beef; ox hide" (11c., Modern French boeuf), from Latin bovem (nominative bos, genitive bovis) "ox, cow," from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow." Original plural in the animal sense was beeves.beer (n.)alcoholic drink made from grain, generally barley, infused with hops and boiled and fermented, Old English beor "strong drink, beer, mead," cognate with Old Frisian biar, Middle Dutch and Dutch bier, Old High German bior, German Bier; a West Germanic word of much-disputed and ambiguous origin.
Probably a 6c. West Germanic monastic borrowing of Vulgar Latin biber "a drink, beverage" (from Latin infinitive bibere "to drink," from PIE root *po(i)- "to drink"). Another suggestion is that it comes from Proto-Germanic *beuwoz-, from *beuwo- "barley." The native Germanic word for the beverage was the one that yielded ale (q.v.). "The word occurs in OE., but its use is rare, except in poetry, and it seems to have become common only in the 16th c. as the name of a hopped malt liquor." [OED] They did have words for it, however. Greek brytos, used in reference to Thracian or Phrygian brews, was related to Old English breowan "brew;" Latin zythum is from Greek zythos, first used of Egyptian beer and treated as an Egyptian word but perhaps truly Greek and related to zyme "leaven."
Spanish cerveza is from Latin cervesia "beer." Old Church Slavonic pivo, source of the general Slavic word for "beer," is originally "a drink" (compare Old Church Slavonic piti "drink"). French bière is a 16c. borrowing from German. U.S. slang beer goggles, through which every potential romantic partner looks desirable, is from 1986.
Beer was a common drink among most of the European peoples, as well as in Egypt and Mesopotamia, but was known to the Greeks and Romans only as an exotic product. [Buck]
before (adv., prep.)Old English beforan "in front of, in former times; in the presence of, in front of in time or position," from Proto-Germanic *bi- "by" (see by) + *forana "from the front," adverbial derivative of *fora (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before"). Compare Old Frisian bifara, Old Saxon biforan, Old High German bifora, German bevor.
As a conjunction, "previous to the time when," from c. 1200. Contrasting before and after in illustrations is from Hogarth (1768). Before the mast in old sailing ship jargon in reference to the life of a common sailor is from the place of their berths, in front of the fore-mast.beget (v.)Old English begietan "to get by effort, find, acquire, attain, seize" (class V strong verb, past tense begeat, past participle begeaton), from be- + get (v.). Sense of "to procreate" is from c. 1200, generally used of the father only. Similar formation in Old Saxon bigitan, Old High German pigezzan, Gothic bigitan "to get, obtain." Related: Begot; begotten.begin (v.)Old English beginnan "to attempt, undertake," a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan (class III strong verb; past tense ongann, past participle ongunnen); from be- + West Germanic *ginnan, which is of obscure meaning and found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open up" (compare Old High German in-ginnan "to cut open, open up," also "begin, undertake"), with sense evolution from "open" to "begin." Cognates elsewhere in Germanic include Old Frisian biginna "to begin," Middle Dutch beghinnen, Old High German beginnan, German beginnen, Old Frisian bijenna "to begin," Gothic duginnan.
From late 12c. as "originate, be the originator of;" from c. 1200 as "take the first step in, start to deal with." Intransitive sense "come into existence" is from mid-13c.belay (v.)"to secure or fasten," from Old English belecgan, which, among other senses ("cover, invest, surround; afflict; accuse"), meant "to lay a thing about" (with other objects), from be- + lecgan "to lay" (from PIE root *legh- "to lie down, lay"). The only surviving sense is the nautical one of "coil a running rope round a cleat or pin to secure it" (also transferred to mountain-climbing), first attested 1540s; but this is possibly from Dutch cognate beleggen. Related: Belayed; belaying.beleaguer (v.)1580s, "besiege, surround, blockade," literal and figurative, from Dutch or Low German belegeren "to besiege," from be- "around" (from Proto-Germanic *bi- "around, about;" see by) + legeren "to camp," from leger "bed, camp, army, lair," from Proto-Germanic *legraz-, from PIE *legh-ro-, suffixed form of root *legh- "to lie down, lay." A word from the Flemish Wars (cognates: Swedish belägra, Dutch belegeren "besiege," German Belagerung "siege"). Spelling influenced by league. Related: Beleaguered; beleaguering. belemnite (n.)type of fossil common in Jurassic sediments, the remains of an extinct squid-like animal, 1640s, from Greek belemnon "dart" (from ballein "to throw, to throw so as to hit," from PIE root *gwele- "to throw, reach") + -ite (1). So called for their shape.belfry (n.)c. 1400, "wooden siege tower on wheels" (late 13c. in Anglo-Latin with a sense "bell tower"), from Old North French berfroi "movable siege tower" (Modern French beffroi), from Middle High German bercfrit "protecting shelter," from Proto-Germanic compound *berg-frithu, literally "high place of security," or that which watches over peace." From bergen "to protect" (from PIE root *bhergh- (1) "to hide, protect") or [Watkins] *bergaz "mountain, high place" (from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives referring to hills and hill-forts) + *frithu- "peace; personal security" (see affray).
The etymological meaning was forgotten, which led to folk-etymologies and a great diversity of spellings. It came to be used for bell towers (mid-15c.), which at first often were detached from church buildings (as the "Leaning Tower" of Pisa and the Campanile on Plaza San Marco in Venice), and the spelling was altered by dissimilation or by association with bell (n.).
belief (n.)late 12c., bileave, "confidence reposed in a person or thing; faith in a religion," replacing Old English geleafa "belief, faith," from West Germanic *ga-laubon "to hold dear, esteem, trust" (source also of Old Saxon gilobo, Middle Dutch gelove, Old High German giloubo, German Glaube), from *galaub- "dear, esteemed," from intensive prefix *ga- + PIE root *leubh- "to care, desire, love." The prefix was altered on analogy of the verb believe. The distinction of the final consonant from that of believe developed 15c.
The be-, which is not a natural prefix of nouns, was prefixed on the analogy of the vb. (where it is naturally an intensive) .... [OED]
Meaning "conviction of the truth of a proposition or alleged fact without knowledge" is by 1530s; it is also "sometimes used to include the absolute conviction or certainty which accompanies knowledge" [Century Dictionary]. From c. 1200 as "a creed, essential doctrines of a religion or church, things held to be true as a matter of religious doctrine;" the general sense of "That which is believed" is by 1714. Related: Beliefs.
Belief meant "trust in God," while faith meant "loyalty to a person based on promise or duty" (a sense preserved in keep one's faith, in good (or bad) faith, and in common usage of faithful, faithless, which contain no notion of divinity). But faith, as cognate of Latin fides, took on the religious sense beginning in 14c. translations, and belief had by 16c. become limited to "mental acceptance of something as true," from the religious use in the sense of "things held to be true as a matter of religious doctrine."believe (v.)Old English belyfan "to have faith or confidence" (in a person), earlier geleafa (Mercian), gelefa (Northumbrian), gelyfan (West Saxon), from Proto-Germanic *ga-laubjan "to believe," perhaps literally "hold dear (or valuable, or satisfactory), to love" (source also of Old Saxon gilobian "believe," Dutch geloven, Old High German gilouben, German glauben), ultimately a compound based on PIE root *leubh- "to care, desire, love" (see belief).
Meaning "be persuaded of the truth of" (a doctrine, system, religion, etc.) is from mid-13c.; meaning "credit upon the grounds of authority or testimony without complete demonstration, accept as true" is from early 14c. General sense "be of the opinion, think" is from c. 1300. Related: Believed (formerly occasionally beleft); believing.
The form beleeve was common till 17c., the spelling then changed, perhaps by influence of relieve, etc. To believe on instead of in was more common in 16c. but now is a peculiarity of theology; believe of also sometimes was used in 17c. Expression believe it or not attested by 1874; Robert Ripley's newspaper cartoon of the same name is from 1918. Emphatic you better believe attested from 1854.belladonna (n.)1590s, "deadly nightshade" (Atropa belladonna), from Italian, literally "fair lady" (see belle + Donna); the plant so called supposedly because women made cosmetic eye-drops from its juice (a mid-18c. explanation; atropic acid, found in the plant, has a well-known property of dilating the pupils) or because it was used to poison beautiful women (a mid-19c. explanation). Perhaps a folk etymology alteration; Gamillscheg suggests it is ultimately of Gaulish origin.bellows (n.)"instrument for producing a current of air," especially for a fire, c. 1200, belwes, literally "bags," plural of belu, belw, northern form of beli, from late Old English belg "pair of bellows; bag, purse, leathern bottle," from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."
Essentially the same word as belly (n.) and retaining its original sense. It is attested earlier in the specific term blæstbælg, literally "blowing bag," and the modern word is perhaps a reduction of this (compare Old Norse blastrbelgr, German Blasebalg). Used exclusively in plural since 15c., probably due to the two handles or halves.belly (n.)a general Germanic word for "leather bag, pouch, pod" that in English has evolved to mean a part of the body; from Old English belg, bylig (West Saxon), bælg (Anglian) "leather bag, purse, pouch, pod, husk, bellows," from Proto-Germanic *balgiz "bag" (source also of Old Norse belgr "bag, bellows," bylgja "billow," Gothic balgs "wine-skin"), from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."
By c. 1200 it was being used for "the stomach," especially as a symbol of gluttony, and by late 14c. to mean "abdomen of a human or animal, front part of the body between the breast and the groin or the diaphragm and the pelvis." The Old English word for "belly, stomach" was buc (cognate with German Bauch, Dutch buik, from a West Germanic word indicative of swelling). The plural of Old English belg emerged in Middle English as a separate word, bellows. Meaning "bulging part or convex surface of anything" is 1590s. The West Germanic root had a figurative or extended sense of "anger, arrogance" (as in Old English bolgenmod "enraged;" belgan (v.) "to become angry"), probably from the notion of "swelling."
Indo-European languages commonly use the same word for both the external belly and the internal (stomach, womb, etc.), but the distinction of external and internal is somewhat present in English belly/stomach; Greek gastr- (see gastric) in classical language denoted the paunch or belly, while modern science uses it only in reference to the stomach as an organ.
As a personal name from 12c. Belly-naked in Middle English was "stripped to the belly, completely naked." Fastidious avoidance of belly in speech and writing (compensated for by stretching the senses of imported stomach and abdomen, baby-talk tummy and misappropriated midriff) began late 18c. and the word was banished from Bibles in many early 19c. editions.belly (v.)c. 1600 "cause to swell out;" 1620s, "to swell out" (intrans.), from belly (n.). Related: Bellied; bellying. Old English belgan meant "to be or become angry" (a figurative sense). A comparable Greek verb-from-noun, gastrizein, meant "to hit (someone) in the belly."Beltane (n.)early 15c., from Lowland Scottish, from Gaelic bealltainn "May 1," important Celtic religious rite marking the start of summer, probably literally "blazing fire," from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" + Old Irish ten "fire," from PIE *tepnos, related to Latin tepidus "warm," from PIE root *tep- "to be hot." But this derivation of the second element is hotly disputed by some on philological grounds, and fires were equally important in the other Celtic holidays. Also known as "Old May Day," because after the 1752 calendar reform it continued to be reckoned according to Old Style; it was one of the quarter-days of ancient Scotland.
The rubbish about Baal, Bel, Belus imported into the word from the Old Testament and classical antiquity, is outside the scope of scientific etymology. [OED]
beluga (n.)1590s, from Russian beluga, literally "great white," from belo- "white" (from PIE *bhel-o-, suffixed form of root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white") + augmentative suffix -uga. Originally the great white sturgeon, found in the Caspian and Black seas; later (1817) the popular name for the small white whale (Delphinapterus leucas) found in northern seas.
belvedere (n.)"raised turret or open story atop a house," 1590s, from Italian belvedere, literally "a fair sight," from bel, bello "beautiful" (from Latin bellus "beautiful, fair;" see belle) + vedere "a view, sight" (from PIE root *weid- "to see"). Pronunciation perhaps influenced by the French form of the word. So called because it was used for viewing the grounds.bend (v.)Old English bendan "to bend a bow, bring into a curved state; confine with a string, fetter," causative of bindan "to bind," from Proto-Germanic base *band- "string, band" (source also of Old Norse benda "to join, strain, strive, bend"), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind."
Meaning "curve or make crooked" (early 14c.) is via the notion of bending a bow to string it. Intransitive sense of "become curved or crooked" is from late 14c., that of "incline, turn from the straight line" is from 1510s. Figurative meaning "bow, be submissive" is from c. 1400. Cognate with band, bind, bond, and Bund. Related: Bended; bent; bending.benefactor (n.)"one who confers a benefit, a kindly helper," especially "one who endows a charitable institution," mid-15c., from Late Latin benefactor, from Latin phrase bene facere, from bene "well" (see bene-) + facere "to do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Translated in Old English as wel-doend. Also in 15c. benefetour, from Old French bienfaiteur.benefice (n.)c. 1300, "a church living, church office endowed with a revenue," from Old French benefice (13c.) and directly from Latin beneficium "a favor, service, generosity, kindness, benefit," from beneficus "generous, kind, benevolent, obliging," from bene- "good, well" (see bene-) + -ficium "a doing," from -ficere, combining form of facere "to do, to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").beneficence (n.)"quality of being beneficent, kind, or charitable, practice of doing good," mid-15c., from Latin beneficentia "kindness, generosity," from beneficus "generous, kind, benevolent, obliging," from bene- "good, well" (see bene-) + -ficus "doing," from -ficere, combining form of facere "to do, to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Related: Beneficency.beneficial (adj.)mid-15c., "helpful, advantageous, conferring benefit," from Middle French bénéficial and directly from Latin beneficialis "pertaining to a favor," from beneficium "a favor, service, kindness," from beneficus "generous, kind, benevolent, obliging," from bene- "good, well" (see bene-) + -ficus "making, doing," from -ficere, combining form of facere "to do, to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Related: Beneficially.beneficiary 1610s (n.) "one who receives profits or advantages," 1620s (adj.) "connected with the receipt of profits or advantages," probably via French bénéficiaire, from Latin beneficiarius "enjoying a favor, privileged," from beneficium "a favor, service, generosity, kindness, benefit," from beneficus "generous, kind, benevolent, obliging," from bene- "good, well" (see bene-) + -ficus, from -ficere, combining form of facere "to do, to make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").benefit (n.)late 14c., benefet, "good or noble deed; helpful or friendly action," also "a beneficial thing; advantage, profit," from Anglo-French benfet (Old French bienfait), from Latin benefactum "good deed," from bene facere, from bene "well" (see bene-) + facere "to do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). Meaning "public performance or entertainment to raise money for some deserving unfortunate person or charitable cause" is from 1680s.benefit (v.)"do good to, be of service," late 15c., from benefit (n.). Related: Benefited; benefiting.benign (adj.)early 14c., from Old French benigne "kind, benign, merciful, gracious" (12c., Modern French bénin, fem. bénigne), from Latin benignus "kindly, kindhearted, friendly, generous," literally "well born," from bene "well" (see bene-) + gignere "to bear, beget," from genus "birth" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget"). For similar sense evolution, compare gentle, kind (adj.), generous. Related: Benignly.benumb (v.)"deprive of sensation," late 15c., from be- + numb. Originally of mental states; of the physical body from 1520s. Related: Benumbed; benumbing.berate (v.)"to scold vehemently," 1540s, from be- "thoroughly" + Middle English rate "to scold" (late 14c.), from Old French reter "accuse, blame," from Latin reputare "reflect upon, reckon, count over," from re- "repeatedly" (see re-) + putare "to judge, suppose, believe, suspect," originally "to clean, trim, prune" (from PIE root *pau- (2) "to cut, strike, stamp"). "Obsolete except in U.S." [OED 1st ed.], but it seems to have revived in Britain 20c. Related: Berated; berating.
Berenice fem. proper name, from Latin Berenice, from Macedonian Greek Berenike (classical Greek Pherenike), literally "bringer of victory," from pherein "to bring" (from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry") + nike "victory" (see Nike).
The constellation Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices) is from the story of the pilfered amber locks of the wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt, c. 248 B.C.E., which the queen cut off as an offering to Venus. The constellation features a dim but visible star cluster; Ptolemy (the astronomer) regarded it as the tuft of fur at the end of Leo's tail, but German cartographer Caspar Vopel put it on his 1536 globe, and it endured. Berenice's Hair is also sometimes incorrectly given as an old name of the star Canopus based on Holland's mistranslation of Pliny in 1601.
berserk (adj.)1844, from berserk (n.) "Norse warrior" (by 1835), an alternative form of berserker, a word which was introduced (as berserkar) by Sir Walter Scott in "The Pirate" (1822), from Old Norse berserkr (n.) "raging warrior of superhuman strength." It is probably from *ber- "bear" + serkr "shirt," thus literally "a warrior clothed in bearskin" (see bear (n.) + sark). Thus not, as Scott evidently believed, from Old Norse berr "bare, naked" and meaning "warrior who fights without armor."
Thorkelin, in the essay on the Berserkir, appended to his edition of the Kristni Saga, tells that an old name of the Berserk frenzy was hamremmi, i.e., strength acquired from another strange body, because it was anciently believed that the persons who were liable to this frenzy were mysteriously endowed, during its accesses, with a strange body of unearthly strength. If, however, the Berserk was called on by his own name, he lost his mysterious form, and his ordinary strength alone remained. ["Notes and Queries," Dec. 28, 1850]
Perhaps later writers mistook the -r for an agent-noun suffix. The picture is further complicated because it has the form of the Old Norse plural, and English berserker sometimes is plural. The adjectival use probably grew from such phrases as berserk frenzy, or as a title (Arngrim the Berserk).
Bertha fem. proper name, from Old High German Berahta, Perahta, the name of a goddess, literally "the bright one," from Old High German beraht "bright," related to Old English beorht (from PIE root *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white"). Soldiers' nickname Big Bertha for large-bore German mortar of World War I is a reference to Frau Bertha Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (1886-1957), owner of Krupp steel works from 1903-43.beset (v.)Old English besettan "to put, place; own, keep; occupy, settle; cover, surround with, besiege," from Proto-Germanic *bisatjan (source also of Old Saxon bisettjan, Dutch bezetten, Old High German bisezzan, German besetzen, Gothic bisatjan); see be- + set (v.). The figurative sense "to press upon vigorously from all sides" also was in Old English. Related: Beset (past tense); besetting.betray (v.)early 13c., "prove false, violate by unfaithfulness;" c. 1300, bitrayen, "deliver or expose to the power of an enemy by treachery," also "mislead, deceive, delude," from be- + obsolete Middle English tray, from Old French traine "betrayal, deception, deceit," from trair (Modern French trahir) "betray, deceive," from Latin tradere "hand over," from trans "across" (see trans-) + dare "to give" (from PIE root *do- "to give").
From 1580s as "unintentionally show a true character;" 1690s as "indicate what is not obvious." From 1735 as "reveal or disclose in violation of confidence." Sometimes in Middle English also bitraish, betrash, from the French present participle stem. Related: Betrayed; betraying.
betroth (v.)c. 1300, betrouthen, "to promise to marry (a woman)," from be-, here probably with a sense of "thoroughly," + Middle English treowðe "truth," from Old English treowðe "truth, a pledge" (see truth). From 1560s as "contract to give (a woman) in marriage to another, affiance." Related: Betrothed; betrothing.between (prep., adv.)Old English betweonum, Mercian betwinum, "in the space which separates, midway, in the midst, among; by turns," from bi- "by" (see by) + tweonum dative plural of *tweon "two each" (compare Gothic tweih-nai "two each;" from PIE root *dwo- "two"). Between a rock and a hard place is from 1940s, originally cowboy slang (earlier was between the beetle (hammer) and the block, late 19c.). Between-whiles "at intervals" is from 1670s.
Between is literally applicable only to two objects; but it may be and commonly is used of more than two where they are spoken of distributively, or so that they can be thought of as divided into two parts or categories, or with reference to the action or being of each individually as compared with that of any other or all the others. When more than two objects are spoken of collectively or in divisibly, among is the proper word. [Century Dictionary]
In all senses, between has been from its earliest appearance, extended to more than two. [OED]
betwixt (prep., adv.)Old English betweox "between, in the space that separates, among, amidst, meanwhile," from bi- "by" (see by) + tweox "for two," from Proto-Germanic *twa "two" (from PIE root *dwo- "two") + *-isk "-ish." With unetymological -t that first appeared in Old English and became general after c. 1500. Compare amidst. Betwixen also was a variant in Old and Middle English.bever (n.)"drink," mid-15c.; "snack between meals," c. 1500, from Anglo-French beivre, Old French bevre, boivre, infinitive used as a noun, from Latin bibere "to imbibe" (from PIE root *po(i)- "to drink").beverage (n.)"drink of any kind," mid-13c., from Anglo-French beverage, Old French bevrage, from Old French boivre "to drink" (Modern French boire; from Latin bibere "to imbibe;" from PIE root *po(i)- "to drink") + -age, suffix forming mass or abstract nouns (see -age).beware (v.)"be on one's guard," c. 1200, probably a contraction of be ware "be wary, be careful," from Middle English ware (adj.), from Old English wær "prudent, aware, alert, wary," from Proto-Germanic *waraz, from PIE root *wer- (3) "perceive, watch out for." Old English had the compound bewarian "to defend," which perhaps contributed to the word. Compare begone.
bezel (n.)1610s, "slope of the edge of a cutting tool," also "groove by which a stone is held in its setting," from Old French *besel (13c.; Modern French biseau), cognate with Spanish and Portuguese bisel; of uncertain origin, perhaps literally "a stone with two angles," from Vulgar Latin *bis-alus, from bis- "twice" (from PIE root *dwo- "two") + ala "wing, side" (see alar). Meaning "oblique face of a gem" is from c. 1840. The verb meaning "grind (a tool) down to an edge" is from 1670s. Compare bevel.bezoar (n.)1540s, "stone used as an antidote against poison," via Medieval Latin, from Arabic bazahr, from Persian pad-zahr "counter-poison," from pad "protecting, guardian, master" (from Iranian *patar-, source also of Avestan patar-, from PIE *pa-tor-, from root *pa- "to feed, protect") + zahr "poison" (from Old Iranian *jathra, from PIE *gwhn-tro-, from root *gwhen- "to strike, kill;" see bane). Later in reference to a concoction from solid matter found in the stomachs and intestines of ruminants, which was held to have antidotal qualities (1570s). Related: Bezoardic.Bhagavad-Gita (n.)in Hindu scripture, a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna inserted in Mahabharata; Sanskrit, from Bhaga, a god of wealth, from Sanskrit bhagah, literally "allotter, distributor, master, lord," from bhajati "assigns, allots, apportions, enjoys, loves" (related to Avestan baga, Old Persian baga "master, lord, god," from PIE root *bhag- "to share out, apportion; to get a share") + gita "song," fem. past participle of gayate "sings, calls," from PIE root *gei- "to sing" (source also of Avestan gatha "song," Lithuanian giedoti "to sing"). First translated into English 1785.bhang (n.)"dried leaves of Cannabis Indica," 1590s, from Hindi bhang "narcotic from hemp," from Sanskrit bhangah "hemp," which is perhaps cognate with Russian penika "hemp." The word first appears in Western Europe in Portuguese (1560s). It also was borrowed into Persian (bang) and Arabic (banj).bias (n.)1520s, "oblique or diagonal line," from French biais "a slant, a slope, an oblique," also figuratively, "an expedient, means" (13c., originally in Old French a past-participle adjective, "sideways, askance, against the grain"), a word of unknown origin. Probably it came to French from Old Provençal biais, which has cognates in Old Catalan and Sardinian, and is possibly via Vulgar Latin *(e)bigassius from Greek epikarsios "athwart, crosswise, at an angle," from epi- "upon" + karsios "oblique," from PIE *krs-yo-, suffixed form of root *sker- (1) "to cut."
In the old game of bowls, it was a technical term used in reference to balls made with a greater weight on one side (1560s), causing them to curve toward one side; hence the figurative use "a one-sided tendency of the mind" (1570s), and, at first especially in law, "undue propensity or prejudice."
The bias of education, the bias of class-relationships, the bias of nationality, the political bias, the theological bias--these, added to the constitutional sympathies and antipathies, have much more influence in determining beliefs on social questions than has the small amount of evidence collected. [Herbert Spencer, "The Study of Sociology," 1873]
For what a man had rather were true he more readily believes. Therefore he rejects difficult things from impatience of research; sober things, because they narrow hope; the deeper things of nature, from superstition; the light of experience, from arrogance and pride, lest his mind should seem to be occupied with things mean and transitory; things not commonly believed, out of deference to the opinion of the vulgar. Numberless in short are the ways, and sometimes imperceptible, in which the affections colour and infect the understanding. [Francis Bacon, "Novum Organum," 1620]
bias (v.)"giving a bias to, causing to incline to one side," 1610s literal; 1620s figurative; from bias (n.). Compare French biasier. Related: Biased; biasing.bib (n.)linen worn over the breast, especially by children, to keep the front of the dress clean while eating, 1570s, from verb bibben "to drink" (late 14c.), which is perhaps imitative of lip sounds; or else [Skeat] it is from Latin bibere "to drink" (from PIE root *po(i)- "to drink"). If the latter, it is difficult now to say whether this is because it was worn while drinking or because it "soaked up" spills.bibitory (adj.)"pertaining to drinking," 1690s, from Modern Latin bibitorius, from Late Latin bibitor "drinker, toper," from Latin bibere "to drink" (from PIE root *po(i)- "to drink"). Bibacious "fond of drinking" is from 1670s.bibliopegy (n.)"the art of book-binding," 1835, from biblio- "book" + Greek pegia, from pegnynai "to fasten, fix; make stiff or solid," from PIE root *pag- "to fasten." Related: Bibliopegic; bibliopegist.bibliopole (n.)"bookseller," 1775, from Latin bibliopola, from Greek bibliopoles "bookseller," from biblion "book" (see biblio-) + poles "merchant, seller," from polein "to sell" (from PIE root *pel- (4) "to sell"). Especially a dealer in rare or curious books. French has bouquinist "a dealer in second-hand books of little value."
bibliothec (n.)also bibliothek, Old English biblioðece "the Bible, the Scriptures," from Latin bibliotheca "library, room for books; collection of books" (in Late Latin and Medieval Latin especially "the Bible"), from Greek bibliotheke, literally "book-repository," from biblion "book" (see biblio-) + theke "case, chest, sheath," from suffixed form of PIE root *dhe- "to set, put." Used of the Bible by Jerome and serving as the common Latin word for it until Biblia began to displace it 9c. (see Bible). The word was later reborrowed from French as bibliotheque (16c.).bibliothecary (n.)"librarian," 1610s, from Latin bibliothecarius "a librarian," noun use of an adjective, from bibliotheca "library, room for books; collection of books," from Greek bibliotheke, literally "book-repository," from biblion "book" (see biblio-) + theke "case, chest, sheath" (from suffixed form of PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). An earlier form in English was bibliothecar (1580s), and compare bibliothec. bibulous (adj.)1670s, "spongy, absorbent," from Latin bibulus "drinking readily, given to drink;" of things, "absorbent; moistened," from bibere "to drink" (from PIE root *po(i)- "to drink"). Meaning "fond of drink" attested in English by 1861.bicycle (n.)1868, from bi- "two" + Greek kyklos "circle, wheel" (see cycle (n.)), on the pattern of tricycle; both the word and the vehicle superseding earlier velocipede.
The English word probably is not from French, though often said to be (many French sources say the French word is from English). The assumption apparently is because Pierre Lallement, employee of a French carriage works, improved Macmillan's 1839 pedal velocipede in 1865 and took the invention to America. See also pennyfarthing. As a verb, from 1869.
The velocipede of 1869 was worked by treadles operating cranks on the axle oi the front wheel. This was modified in the earliest form of the bicycle by greatly increasing the relative size of the driving-wheel and bringing the rider directly over it. Later the "safety" bicycle was introduced, in which the wheels were made of equal or nearly equal size, and for the direct action upon the front wheel was substituted indirect action upon the rear wheel, by means of a chain and sprocket-wheels .... [Century Dictionary]
bid (v.)probably an early Middle English mutual influence or confusion of two old words: The sense in bid farewell is from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, beg, pray, beseech; order" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd, past participle beden), from Proto-Germanic *bidjan "to pray, entreat" (source also of German bitten "to ask," attested in Old High German from 8c., also Old Saxon bidjan, Old Frisian bidda, Old Norse biðja, Gothic bidjan). This, according to Kluge and Watkins, is from a PIE root *gwhedh- "to ask, pray" (see bead (n.)).
To bid at an auction, meanwhile, is from Old English beodan "offer, proclaim" (class II strong verb; past tense bead, past participle boden), from Proto-Germanic *beudan "to stretch out, reach out, offer, present," (source also of German bieten "to offer," Old High German biatan, also Old Saxon biodan, Old Frisian biada, Old Norse bjoða, Gothic anabiudan "to command"). This is from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware" (source also of bode (v.)).bide (v.)Old English bidan "to stay, continue, live, remain," also "to trust, rely," from Proto-Germanic *bidan "to await" (source also of Old Norse biða, Old Saxon bidan, Old Frisian bidia, Middle Dutch biden, Old High German bitan, Gothic beidan "to wait"), which is of uncertain origin. Possibly from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade" (via notion of "to await trustingly"). Preserved in Scotland and northern England, replaced elsewhere by abide in all senses except in expression bide (one's) time (c. 1840). Related: Bided; biding.bier (n.)Old English bær (West Saxon), ber (Anglian) "handbarrow, litter, bed," from West Germanic *bero (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German bara, Old Frisian bere, Middle Dutch bare, Dutch baar, German Bahre "bier"), from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry."
The original sense is "wooden frame on which to carry a load," and it is related to bear (v.). Specific sense of "framework on which a coffin or corpse is laid before burial" was in late Old English and predominated from c. 1600. The spelling altered from c. 1600 under influence of French bière, from Old French biere, from Frankish *bera, from the same Germanic source.bifarious (adj.)"divided in two parts," 1650s, from Latin bifarius "twofold, double," probably originally "that which can be expressed in two ways" [Klein], from bi- "two" (see bi-) + fari "to speak, say" (from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say"). Related: Bifariously.bilge (n.)1510s, "lowest internal part of a ship," also used of the foulness which collects there; variant of bulge "ship's hull," also "leather bag," from Old North French boulge "leather sack," from Late Latin bulga "leather sack," apparently from Gaulish bulga (see bulge (n.) and compare budget (n.)).bilirubin (n.)"reddish pigment found in bile," 1868, from German bilirubin (1864), from bili- "bile" (see bile) + Latin ruber "red" (from PIE root *reudh- "red, ruddy") + -ine (2).bill (n.3)ancient weapon, Old English bill "sword (especially one with a hooked blade), chopping tool," from Proto-Germanic *bili-, a word for cutting or chopping weapons (compare Old Saxon bil "sword," Middle Dutch bile, Dutch bijl, Old High German bihal, German Beil, Old Norse bilda "hatchet"), possibly from PIE root *bheie- "to cut, to strike" (source also of Armenian bir "cudgel," Greek phitos "block of wood," Old Church Slavonic biti "to strike," Old Irish biail "ax").billow (n.)"a great wave or surge of the sea," 1550s, perhaps older in dialectal use (but not recorded in Middle English), from Old Norse bylgja "a wave, a billow," from Proto-Germanic *bulgjan (source also of Swedish bölja, Danish bölge "a billow," Middle High German bulge "a billow; a bag"), from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."billow (v.)"to rise or roll in large waves," 1590s, from billow (n.). Related: Billowed; billowing.binary (adj.)"dual, twofold, double," mid-15c., from Late Latin binarius "consisting of two," from bini "twofold, two apiece, two-by-two" (used especially of matched things), from bis "double" (from PIE root *dwo- "two"). Binary code in computer terminology was in use by 1952, though the idea itself is ancient. Binary star in astronomy is from 1802.bind (v.)Old English bindan "to tie up with bonds" (literally and figuratively), also "to make captive; to cover with dressings and bandages" (class III strong verb; past tense band, past participle bunden), from Proto-Germanic *bindan (source also of Old Saxon bindan, Old Norse and Old Frisian binda, Old High German binten "to bind," German binden, Gothic bindan), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind." Of books, from c. 1400. Intransitive sense of "stick together, cohere" is from 1670s.binnacle (n.)"wooden box for a ship's compass," 1738, corruption of bittacle (1620s), which is probably from Spanish bitacula or Portuguese bitacola, both from Latin habitaculum "little dwelling place," from habitare "to inhabit" (from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive").binocle (n.)"telescope or opera glass with two tubes for use by both eyes at once," 1690s, from French binocle (17c.), from Latin bini- "two by two, twofold, two apiece" (see binary) + oculus "eye" (from PIE root *okw- "to see").binocular (adj.)1738, "involving both eyes," earlier "having two eyes" (1713), from French binoculaire, from Latin bini "two by two, twofold, two apiece" (see binary) + ocularis "of the eye," from oculus "eye" (from PIE root *okw- "to see"). The double-tubed telescopic instrument (1871, short for binocular glass) earlier was called a binocle. Related: Binocularity; binocularly.biogenesis (n.)also bio-genesis, 1870, "theory that living organisms arise only from the agency of pre-existing living organisms," coined by English biologist T.H. Huxley from Greek bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live") + -genesis "birth, origin, creation." Meaning "the theoretical evolution of living matter from complex inanimate chemicals" is from 1960. Related: Biogenetic; biogenetical.
biography (n.)1680s, "the histories of individual lives, as a branch of literature," probably from Medieval Latin biographia, from later Greek biographia "description of life" (which was not in classical Greek, bios alone being the word there for it), from Greek bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live") + graphia "record, account" (see -graphy).
Meaning "a history of someone's life" is from 1791. Meaning "life course of any living being" is from 1854. No one-word verb form has become common; biographise/biographize (1800), biography (1844), biograph (1849) have been tried.biology (n.)"the science of life and living things," 1819, from Greek bios "life, one's life, lifetime" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live;" see bio-) + -logy "study of." Suggested 1802 by German naturalist Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, and introduced as a scientific term that year in French by Lamarck; they seem to have hit upon the word independently.
biome (n.)1916, from Greek bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live") + -ome, an Anglicization of Greek -(o)ma, neuter noun suffix (see -oma). Probably coined by U.S. ecologist Frederic E. Clements.
biomechanics (n.)also bio-mechanics, "study of the action of forces on the body," 1931, from bio- + mechanic (also see -ics). Earlier (1924) it was a term in Russian theater, from Russian biomekhanika (1921).bionic (adj.)1901 as a term in the study of fossils, "quality of an organism that repeats its characteristics in successive generations," from Greek bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live"). Meaning "pertaining to bionics" is recorded from 1963, with ending from electronic. Popular sense of "superhumanly gifted or durable" is from 1976, from U.S. television program "The Six Million Dollar Man" and its spin-offs.bionics (n.)"the study of electronic systems which function in the manner of organic systems," 1959, from bio- "life" + second element from electronic; also see -ics.bionomics (n.)"science of organic evolution; ecology," 1888, coined by Scottish biologist Patrick Geddes from Greek bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live") + nomos "managing," from nemein "to manage" (from PIE root *nem- "assign, allot; take"). Related: Bionomical.
bionomy (n.)"science of the laws of life, or of living functions," 1853, in books on Comte's philosophy, from bio- "life" + -nomy, from Greek nomos "law" (from PIE root *nem- "assign, allot; take"). Related: Bionomic.biopsy (n.)"examination of tissue removed from a living body," 1895, from French biopsie, coined by French dermatologist Ernest Besnier (1831-1909) from Greek bi-, combining form of bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live") + opsis "a sight" (from PIE root *okw- "to see"). As a verb, from 1964.biota (n.)"animal and plant life of a given region," 1901, from Greek biota "life," from PIE root *gwei- "to live."biotic (adj.)"pertaining to life," 1847, also biotical (1847), from Latin bioticus, from Greek biotikos "pertaining to life," from bios "life," from PIE root *gwei- "to live." Biotic factor was in use by 1907. Related: Biotical.biotin (n.)vitamin of the B group (also sometimes called vitamin H) essential for the growth of yeast, 1936, from German Biotin (1936), from Greek biotos "life" (variant of bios, from PIE root *gwei- "to live") + chemical suffix -in (2).biparous (adj.)"bringing forth two at birth," 1731, from bi- "two" + Latin -parus, from parire "bring forth, bear" (from PIE root *pere- (1) "to produce, procure").
bipartient (adj.)"dividing into two parts," 1670s, from Latin bipartientem (nominative bipartiens), present participle of bipartire "to divide into two parts," from bi- "two" (see bi-) + partitus, past participle of partiri "to divide" (from pars "a part, piece, a share," from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot").
bipartisan (adj.)also bi-partisan, "representing or composed of members of two political parties, 1894; see bi- + partisan (adj.) "pertaining to a (political) party."bipartite (adj.)"in two parts, having two corresponding parts," 1570s, from Latin bipartitus "divided," past participle of bipartire "to divide into two parts," from bi- "two" (see bi-) + partitus, past participle of partiri "to divide" (from pars "a part, piece, a share," from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot"). Related: Bipartition.
biped (n.)"animal with two feet," 1640s, from Latin bipedem (nominative bipes) "two-footed," as a plural noun, "men;" from bi- "two" (see bi-) + pedem (nominative pes) "foot" (from PIE root *ped- "foot"). As an adjective from 1781.biplicate (adj.)"doubly folded," 1840 in botany, from bi- "two" + Latin plicare "to fold" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait").birch (n.)"hardy, slender northern forest tree noted for its white bark," Old English berc, beorc (also the name of the rune for "b"), from Proto-Germanic *berkjon (source also of Old Saxon birka, Old Norse börk, Danish birk, Swedish and Icelandic björk (which is also a girl's given name), Middle Dutch berke, Dutch berk, Old High German birihha, German Birke), from PIE *bhergo (source also of Ossetian barz, Old Church Slavonic breza, Russian bereza, Lithuanian beržas, Sanskrit bhurjah, all names of birch-like trees, Latin fraxinus "mountain ash"), from root *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white," in reference to the bark. Birch beer is by 1827, American English.birth (n.)c. 1200, "fact of being born;" mid-13c., "act of giving birth, a bringing forth by the mother, childbirth," sometimes in Middle English also "conception;" also "that which is born, offspring, child;" from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse *byrðr (replacing cognate Old English gebyrd "birth, descent, race; offspring; nature; fate"), from Proto-Germanic *gaburthis (source also of Old Frisian berd, Old Saxon giburd, Dutch geboorte, Old High German giburt, German geburt, Gothic gabaurþs), from PIE *bhrto past participle of root *bher- (1) "to carry; to bear children" (compare bear (v.)).
Suffix -th is for "process" (as in bath, death). Meaning "condition into which a person is born, lineage, descent" is from c. 1200 (also in the Old English word). In reference to non-living things, "any coming into existence" is from 1610s. Birth control is from 1914; birth certificate is from 1842.
birth (v.)mid-13c., "be born," from birth (n.). Meaning "give birth to, give rise to" is from 1906. Related: Birthed; birthing.biscuit (n.)respelled early 19c. from bisket (16c.), ultimately (besquite, early 14c.) from Old French bescuit "biscuit" (12c.), altered under influence of cognate Old Italian biscotto, both from Medieval Latin biscoctum, literally "twice-baked," from Latin (panis) bis coctus "(bread) twice-baked;" see bis- + cook (v.). Originally a kind of hard, dry bread baked in thin cakes; U.S. sense of "small, round soft bun" is recorded from 1818.bisect (v.)"to cut in two," 1640s, from Modern Latin bisectus, from Latin bi- "two" (see bi-) + secare "to cut" (from PIE root *sek- "to cut"). Related: Bisected; bisecting.bishop (n.)Old English bisceop "bishop, high priest (Jewish or pagan)," from Late Latin episcopus, from Greek episkopos "watcher, (spiritual) overseer," a title for various government officials, later taken over in a Church sense, from epi- "over" (see epi-) + skopos "one that watches, one that looks after; a guardian, protector" (from PIE root *spek- "to observe"). Given a specific sense in the Church, but the word also was used in the New Testament as a descriptive title for elders, and continues as such in some non-hierarchical Christian sects.
A curious example of word-change, as effected by the genius of different tongues, is furnished by the English bishop and the French évêque. Both are from the same root, furnishing, perhaps the only example of two words from a common stem so modifying themselves in historical times as not to have a letter in common. (Of course many words from a far off Aryan stem are in the same condition.) The English strikes off the initial and terminal syllables, leaving only piscop, which the Saxon preference for the softer labial and hissing sounds modified into bishop. Évêque (formerly evesque) merely softens the p into v and drops the last syllable. [William S. Walsh, "Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities," Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott, 1892]
Late Latin episcopus in Spanish became obispo, in Italian vescovo, in Welsh esgob. The Germanic forms include Old Saxon biscop, Old High German biscof. Further afield it became Lithuanian vyskupas, Albanian upeshk, Finnish piispa. A once-popular pun on it was bite-sheep (1550s, also in German, biss-schaf). The chess piece (formerly archer, before that alfin) was so called from 1560s.
bishopric (n.)Old English bisceoprice "diocese, province of a bishop," from bishop + rice "realm, dominion, province," from Proto-Germanic *rikja "rule," from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," with derivatives meaning "to direct in a straight line," thus "to lead, rule."bistro (n.)1906, from French bistro (1884), originally Parisian slang for "little wineshop or restaurant," which is of unknown origin. Commonly said to be from Russian bee-stra "quickly," picked up during the Allied occupation of Paris in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon; but this, however quaint, is unlikely. Another guess is that it is from bistraud "a little shepherd," a word of the Poitou dialect, from biste "goat."bivalent (adj.)1864, of chemicals, 1899, of chromosomes, from bi- + -valent (see valence in the chemistry sense).
bivouac (n.)1702, "encampment of soldiers that stays up on night watch in the open air, dressed and armed," from French bivouac (17c.), said to be a word from the Thirty Years' War, ultimately from Swiss/Alsatian biwacht "night guard," from bei- (from Old High German bi- "by," here perhaps as an intensive prefix; see by) + wacht "guard" (from Proto-Germanic *wahtwo, from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively"). Sense of "outdoor camp" is from 1853. According to OED not a common word in English before the Napoleonic Wars. Italian bivacco is from French. As a verb, 1809, "to post troops in the night;" meaning "camp out-of-doors without tents" is from 1814.black (n.)Old English blæc "the color black," also "ink," from noun use of black (adj.). From late 14c. as "dark spot in the pupil of the eye." The meaning "dark-skinned person, African" is from 1620s (perhaps late 13c., and blackamoor is from 1540s). Meaning "black clothing" (especially when worn in mourning) is from c. 1400.
To be in black-and-white, meaning in writing or in print, is from 1650s (white-and-black is from 1590s); the notion is of black characters on white paper. In the visual arts, "with no colors but black and white," it is by 1870 of sketches, 1883 of photographs. To be in the black (1922) is from the accounting practice of recording credits and balances in black ink.
For years it has been a common practice to use red ink instead of black in showing a loss or deficit on corporate books, but not until the heavy losses of 1921 did the contrast in colors come to have a widely understood meaning. ["Saturday Evening Post," July 22, 1922]
black (v.)c. 1200, intrans., "to become black;" early 14c., trans., "to make black, darken, put a black color on;" from black (adj.). Especially "to clean and polish (boots, shoes, etc.) by blacking and brushing them" (1550s). Related: Blacked; blacking.black (adj.)Old English blæc "absolutely dark, absorbing all light, the color of soot or coal," from Proto-Germanic *blakaz "burned" (source also of Old Norse blakkr "dark," Old High German blah "black," Swedish bläck "ink," Dutch blaken "to burn"), from PIE *bhleg- "to burn, gleam, shine, flash" (source also of Greek phlegein "to burn, scorch," Latin flagrare "to blaze, glow, burn"), from root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn."
The same root produced Old English blac "bright, shining, glittering, pale;" the connecting notions being, perhaps, "fire" (bright) and "burned" (dark). The usual Old English word for "black" was sweart (see swart). According to OED: "In ME. it is often doubtful whether blac, blak, blake, means 'black, dark,' or 'pale, colourless, wan, livid.' " Used of dark-skinned people in Old English.
Of coffee with nothing added, attested by 1796. Black drop (1823) was a liquid preparation of opium, used medicinally. Black-fly (c. 1600) was used of various insects, especially an annoying pest of the northern American woods. Black Prince as a nickname of the eldest son of Edward III is attested by 1560s; the exact signification is uncertain.
Meaning "fierce, terrible, wicked" is from late 14c. Figurative senses often come from the notion of "without light," moral or spiritual. Latin niger had many of the same figurative senses ("gloomy; unlucky; bad, wicked, malicious"). The metaphoric use of the Greek word, melas, however, tended to reflect the notion of "shrouded in darkness, overcast." In English it has been the color of sin and sorrow at least since c. 1300; the sense of "with dark purposes, malignant" emerged 1580s (in black art "necromancy;" it is also the sense in black magic). Black flag, flown (especially by pirates) as a signal of "no mercy," is from 1590s. Black dog "melancholy" attested from 1826.
Black belt is from 1870 in reference to district extending across the U.S. South with heaviest African population (also sometimes in reference to the fertility of the soil); it is attested from 1913 in the judo sense, worn by one who has attained a certain high degree of proficiency. Black power is from 1966, associated with Stokely Carmichael. Black English "English as spoken by African-Americans," is by 1969. The Black Panther (1965) movement was an outgrowth of Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee. Black studies is attested from 1968.
blade (n.)Old English blæd "a leaf," also "a leaf-like part" (of a spade, oar, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *bladaz (source also of Old Frisian bled "leaf," German Blatt, Old Saxon, Danish, Dutch blad, Old Norse blað), from PIE *bhle-to-, suffixed form (past participle) of root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom."
Extended in Middle English to the broad, flattened bone of the shoulder (c. 1300) and the cutting part of knives and swords (early 14c.). The modern use in reference to grass may be a Middle English revival, by influence of Old French bled "corn, wheat" (11c.), which is perhaps from Germanic. The cognate in German, Blatt, is the general word for "leaf;" Laub is used collectively as "foliage." Old Norse blað was used of herbs and plants, lauf in reference to trees. This might have been the original distinction in Old English, too. Compare leaf (n.). Of men from 1590s; in later use often a reference to 18c. gallants and dashing rakes, but the original exact sense, and thus signification, is uncertain.blain (n.)Old English blegen "a sore, blister, pustule, inflammatory swelling on the body," from Proto-Germanic *blajinon "a swelling" (source also of Danish blegn, Dutch blein), from PIE *bhlei- "to swell," from root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."blame (n.)early 13c., "an act or expression of disapproval, rebuke, etc., for something deemed wrong;" mid-14c., "responsibility for something that is wrong, culpability," from Old French blasme "blame, reproach; condemnation," a back-formation from blasmer "to rebuke" (see blame (v.)).blame (v.)c. 1200, "find fault with" (opposed to praise, commend); c. 1300, "lay responsibility on for something deemed wrong," from Old French blasmer (12c., Modern French blâmer) "to rebuke, reprimand, condemn, criticize," from Vulgar Latin *blastemare, from Late Latin blasphemare "to blaspheme, to speak lightly or amiss of God or sacred things," which also had a sense of "revile, reproach" (see blaspheme). Replaced Old English witan (with long "i"). Related: Blamed; blaming.blanch (v.1)c. 1400, transitive, "to make white, cause to turn pale," from Old French blanchir "to whiten, wash," from blanc "white" (11c.; see blank (adj.)). In early use also "to whitewash" a building, "to remove the hull of (almonds, etc.) by soaking." Intransitive sense of "to turn white" is from 1768. Related: Blanched; blanching.blanch (v.2)"to start back, shrink, turn aside," 1570s, variant of blench (q.v.). Related: Blanched; blanching.blancmange (n.)"jelly-like preparation in cookery," late 14c., from Old French blancmengier (13c.), literally "white eating," originally a dish of fowl minced with cream, rice, almonds, sugar, eggs, etc.; from blanc "white" (also used in Old French of white foods, such as eggs, cream, also white meats such as veal and chicken; see blank (adj.)) + mangier "to eat" (see manger). Attempts were made nativize it (Chaucer has blankemangere); French pronunciation is evident in 18c. variant blomange, and "the present spelling is a half attempt at restoring the French" [OED].bland (adj.)"mild, smooth, free from irritating qualities, not stimulating," 1660s, from Italian blando "delicate," or Old French bland "flattering, complimentary," both from Latin blandus "smooth-talking, flattering, alluring," perhaps from PIE *mlad-, nasalized variant of *meld-, extended form of root *mel- (1) "soft." Related: Blandly; blandness.blandiloquence (n.)"flattery in speech," 1650s, from Latin blandiloquentia, from blandiloquens "speaking flatteringly," from blandus "flattering, alluring" (see bland) + loquens, from loqui "to speak" (from PIE root *tolkw- "to speak"). Blandiloquous is attested earlier (1610s). Latin also had blandiloquentulus "flattering in speech."blandish (v.)mid-14c., "to flatter," from Old French blandiss-, present participle stem of blandir "to flatter, caress," from Latin blandiri "flatter, soothe, caress, coax," from blandus "smooth-talking, flattering, alluring," perhaps from PIE root *mel- (1) "soft." OED reports it rare in 17c., 18c., and Johnson says he knows it only from Milton. Related: Blandished; blandishing.blank (n.)late 14c. as the name of a small French coin; 1550s as "white space in the center of a target," from the same source as blank (adj.). Meaning "empty space" (in a document, etc.) is from c. 1570. Meaning "losing lottery ticket" (1560s) is behind the expression draw a blank. The word has been "for decorum's sake, substituted for a word of execration" [OED] at least since 1854 (for compound words, blankety-blank), from the use of blank lines in printing to indicate where such words or the letters forming the bulk of them have been omitted. From 1896 as short for blank cartridge (itself from 1826).blank (adj.)early 13c., "white, pale, colorless," from Old French blanc "white, shining," from Frankish *blank "white, gleaming," or some other Germanic source (compare Old Norse blakkr, Old English blanca "white horse;" Old High German blanc, blanch; German blank "shining, bright"), from Proto-Germanic *blangkaz "to shine, dazzle," extended form of PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white."
Meaning "having empty spaces" evolved c. 1400. Sense of "void of expression" (a blank look) is from 1550s. Spanish blanco, Italian bianco are said to be from Germanic. Related: Blankly, blankness.
blank (v.)1540s, "to nonplus, disconcert, shut up;" 1560s, "to frustrate," from blank (adj.) in some sense. Sports sense of "defeat (another team) without allowing a score" is from 1870 (blank (n.) as "a score of 0 in a game or contest" is from 1867). Meaning "to become blank or empty" is from 1955. Related: Blanked; blanking.blanket (v.)c. 1600, "to cover with or as with a blanket;" also "to toss in a blanket" (as punishment), from blanket (n.). Related: Blanketed; blanketing. blanket (n.)c. 1300, "coarse white woolen stuff," also "a large oblong piece of woolen cloth used for warmth as a bed-covering" (also as a cover for horses), from Old French blanchet "light wool or flannel cloth; an article made of this material," diminutive of blanc "white" (see blank (adj.)), which had a secondary sense of "a white cloth."
As an adjective, "providing for a number of contingencies," 1886 (blanket-clause in a contract). Wet blanket (1830) is from the notion of a person who throws a damper on social situations in the way a wet blanket smothers a fire. In U.S. history, a blanket Indian (1859) was one using the traditional garment instead of wearing Western dress.
Only 26,000 blanket Indians are left in the United States. ["Atlantic Monthly," March 1906]
blaspheme (v.)"to speak impiously or irreverently of God and sacred things," mid-14c., from Old French blasfemer "to blaspheme" (14c., Modern French blasphémer), from Church Latin blasphemare (which in Late Latin also meant "revile, reproach," hence blame (v.)), from Greek blasphemein "to speak lightly or amiss of sacred things, to slander," from blasphemos "evil-speaking" (see blasphemy). A classical reintroduction in English after the original word, taken from vernacular Old French, had been worn down and sense-shifted to blame. Related: Blasphemed; blasphemer; blaspheming.blasphemous (adj.)"displaying blasphemy, irreverent to God or sacred things," early 15c., blasfemous, from Old French blasfemeus or directly from Late Latin blasphemus, from blasphemare "to blaspheme," from Greek blasphemein "to speak lightly or amiss of sacred things, to slander," from blasphemos "evil-speaking" (see blasphemy).
blasphemy (n.)"impious or profane speaking of God or sacred things," early 13c., from Old French blasfemie "blasphemy," from Late Latin blasphemia, from Greek blasphemia "a speaking ill, impious speech, slander," from blasphemein "to speak evil of." Second element is pheme "utterance," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say;" first element uncertain, perhaps related to blaptikos "hurtful," though blax "slack (in body and mind), stupid" also has been proposed; de Vaan suggests a connection with the root of Latin malus "bad, unpleasant" (from PIE root *mel- (3)). In Old Testament usage the word applied to a more specific crime, against the reverence for Jehovah as ruler of the Jews, comparable to treason.
Blasphemy cognizable by common law is described by Blackstone to be "denying the being or providence of God, contumelious reproaches of our Saviour Christ, profane scoffing at the Holy Scripture, or exposing it to contempt or ridicule"; by Kent as "maliciously reviling God or religion"; and by Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw as "speaking evil of the Deity with an impious purpose to derogate from the Divine Majesty and to alienate the minds of others from the love and reverence of God." [Century Dictionary, 1895]
blaze (v.1)"to burst into flame, burn brightly or vigorously," c. 1200, from blaze (n.1). To blaze away "fire (guns or cannon) continuously" is by 1776, hence "work with vigor and enthusiasm." Related: Blazed; blazing.blaze (v.2)"make public" (often in a bad sense, boastfully), late 14c., of uncertain origin, the verb not being found in Old English; perhaps from Middle Dutch blasen "to blow" (on a trumpet), from Proto-Germanic *blaes-an (source also of German blasen, Gothic -blesan), from PIE root *bhle- "to blow." Or connected to blaze (v.1) on the notion of "shine forth."blaze (n.2)1630s, "light-colored mark or spot" on the face of a horse, cow, etc., northern English dialect, probably from Old Norse blesi "white spot on a horse's face," from Proto-Germanic *blas- "shining, white," from the same root as blaze (n.1). Middle Dutch or Low German cognates of the Norse word also have been suggested as the source. Applied 1660s in American English to marks cut on tree trunks to indicate a track; thus the verb meaning "to mark a trail" (1750). Related: Blazed; blazing.blaze (v.3)"to mark" (a tree, a trail), usually by cutting of a piece of bark so as to leave a white spot, 1750, American English, from blaze (n.) "white mark made on a tree" (1660s), from blaze (n.2).blaze (n.1)"bright flame, fire," Old English blæse "a torch, firebrand; bright glowing flame," from Proto-Germanic *blas- "shining, white" (source also of Old Saxon blas "white, whitish," Middle High German blas "bald," originally "white, shining," Old High German blas-ros "horse with a white spot," Middle Dutch and Dutch bles, German Blesse "white spot," blass "pale, whitish"), from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn."
bleach (v.)Old English blæcan, of cloth or fabric, "to make white by removing color, whiten" (by exposure to chemical agents or the sun), from Proto-Germanic *blaikjan "to make white" (source also of Old Saxon blek, Old Norse bleikr, Dutch bleek, Old High German bleih, German bleich "pale;" Old Norse bleikja, Dutch bleken, German bleichen "to make white, cause to fade"), from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white."
The same root probably produced black, perhaps because both black and white are colorless, or because both are associated in different ways with burning. Compare Old English scimian meaning both "to shine" and "to dim, grow dusky, grow dark," which is related to the source of shine. Intransitive sense "become white" is from 1610s. Related: Bleached; bleaching. The past participle in Middle English was sometimes blaught.
bleach (n.)1881, "a bleaching agent;" 1882, "an act of bleaching;" probably directly from bleach (v.). The Old English noun blæce meant "leprosy;" Late Old English also had blæco "paleness," and Middle English had blech "whitening or bleaching agent," but the modern words seem to be independent late 19c. formations from the verb.
bleak (adj.)c. 1300, bleik, "pale, pallid," from Old Norse bleikr "pale, whitish, blond," from Proto-Germanic *blaika- "shining, white" (source also of Old Saxon blek "pale, shining," Dutch bleek, Old High German bleih, German bleich), from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white."
The original English sense is obsolete; the meaning "bare, windswept" is from 1530s; figurative sense of "cheerless" is from c. 1719. The same Germanic root produced Middle English blake "pale" (Old English blac), but this fell from use, probably from confusion with blæc "black" (the surname Blake can mean either "one of pale complexion" or "one of dark complexion"). Bleak has survived, not in the "pale" sense, but meaning only "bare, barren." Related: Bleakly; bleakness.
bleat (v.)Old English blætan, from West Germanic *bhle- (source also of Dutch blaten "to bleat"), of imitative origin (compare Greek blekhe "a bleating; the wailing of children," Old Church Slavonic blejat "to bleat," Latin flere "to weep"). Related: Bleated; bleating.bleed (v.)Old English bledan, "to cause to lose blood, to let blood" (in Middle English and after, especially "to let blood from surgically"), also (intrans.) "to emit blood," from Proto-Germanic *blodjan "emit blood" (source also of Old Norse blæða, Dutch bloeden, German bluten), from PIE *bhlo-to- "swell, gush, spurt," or "that which bursts out," from suffixed form of root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom."
Meaning "extort money from" is from 1670s. Of dyes or paints, "to be washed out," from 1862. Figuratively, of the heart, "to suffer anguish, feel pity or sorrow," late 14c.blemish (v.)mid-14c., "to disparage, dishonor, impair morally;" late 14c., "to damage or spoil, disfigure," from Old French blemiss- "to turn pale," extended stem of blemir, blesmir "to make pale; stain, discolor," also "to injure" (13c., Modern French blêmir), probably from Frankish *blesmjan "to cause to turn pale," or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *blas "shining, white," from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white."
From mid-15c. as "mar the beauty or soundness of." Usually in reference to something that is well-formed or otherwise excellent. Related: Blemished; blemishing.
blemish (n.)"a defect, flaw, imperfection," 1520s, from blemish (v.).blench (v.)"shrink, start back, give way; flinch, wince, dodge," c. 1200, extended sense from Old English blencan "deceive, cheat" (obsolete in the original sense), from Proto-Germanic *blenk- "to shine, dazzle, blind" (source also of Old Norse blekkja "delude"), from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white." Related: Blenched; blenching.
blend (n.)"mixture formed by blending," 1860, from blend (v.).blend (v.)c. 1300, blenden, "to mix in such a way as to become inextinguishable, mingle, stir up a liquid," in northern writers, from or akin to rare Old English blandan "to mix" (Mercian blondan) or Old Norse blanda "to mix," or a combination of the two; from Proto-Germanic *blandan "to mix," which comes via a notion of "to make cloudy" from an extended Germanic form of the PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn."
Compare Old Saxon and Old High German blantan, Gothic blandan, Middle High German blenden "to mix;" German Blendling "bastard, mongrel," and, outside Germanic, Lithuanian blandus "troubled, turbid, thick;" Old Church Slavonic blesti "to go astray." Figurative sense of "mingle closely" is from early 14c. Related: Blended; blending.
blende (n.)an ore of zinc and other metals, 1680s, from German Blende, a back-formation from blenden "to blind, deceive" (see blind (adj.)). Said by German sources to be so called because it resembles lead but does not yield any.blenny (n.)type of small fish, 1774, from Latin blennius (in Pliny), from Greek blennos, from blenna "slime, mucus," from PIE *mled-sno-, suffixed form of root *mel- (1) "soft." The fish so called from the coating on its scales.bless (v.)Old English bletsian, bledsian, Northumbrian bloedsian "to consecrate by a religious rite, make holy, give thanks," from Proto-Germanic *blodison "hallow with blood, mark with blood," from *blotham "blood" (see blood (n.)). Originally a blood sprinkling on pagan altars.
This word was chosen in Old English bibles to translate Latin benedicere and Greek eulogein, both of which have a ground sense of "to speak well of, to praise," but were used in Scripture to translate Hebrew brk "to bend (the knee), worship, praise, invoke blessings." L.R. Palmer ("The Latin Language") writes, "There is nothing surprising in the semantic development of a word denoting originally a special ritual act into the more generalized meanings to 'sacrifice,' 'worship,' 'bless,' " and he compares Latin immolare (see immolate).
The meaning shifted in late Old English toward "pronounce or make happy, prosperous, or fortunate" by resemblance to unrelated bliss. Meaning "invoke or pronounce God's blessing upon" is from early 14c. No cognates in other languages. Related: Blessed; blessing.
blind (v.)"make blind, deprive of sight," early 13c., from Old English blendan "to blind, deprive of sight; deceive," from Proto-Germanic *blandjan (source also of Old Frisian blinda, Dutch blinden, Old High German blinden "become blind;" Danish blinde, Gothic gablindjan "make blind"), perhaps, via notion of "to make cloudy, deceive," from an extended Germanic form of the PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn (see blind (adj.)). Form influenced in Middle English by the adjective. Related: Blinded; blinding.
blind (n.)"a blind person; blind persons collectively," late Old English, from blind (adj.). Meaning "place of concealment," especially for a hunter or fowler, is from 1640s. Meaning "anything that obstructs sight" is from 1702. blind (adj.)Old English blind "destitute of sight," also "dark, enveloped in darkness, obscure; unintelligent, lacking mental perception," probably from Proto-Germanic *blinda- "blind" (source also of Dutch and German blind, Old Norse blindr, Gothic blinds "blind"), perhaps, via notion of "to make cloudy, deceive," from an extended Germanic form of the PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn."
The original sense would be not "sightless" but rather "confused," which perhaps underlies such phrases as blind alley (1580s; Chaucer's lanes blynde), which is older than the sense of "closed at one end" (1610s).
Meaning "not directed or controlled by reason" was in Old English. Meaning "without opening for admitting light or seeing through" is from c. 1600. In reference to acting without seeing or investigating first, by 1840; of aviators flying without instruments or without clear observation, from 1919.
The twilight, or rather the hour between the time when one can no longer see to read and the lighting of the candles, is commonly called blindman's holiday. [Grose, 1796]
blindfold (n.)1880, "something wrapped around the head over the eyes to take away vision," from blindfold (v.). Earlier in this sense was blindfolder (1640s).blindfold (v.)"to cover the eyes to hinder from seeing," a mistaken formation ultimately from Old English (ge)blindfellian "to strike blind," from blind (adj.) + Anglian gefeollan "to strike down, make fall, cause to fall" (see fell (v.1)).
This became Middle English blindfellen "to strike blind," also "to cover (the eyes) to block vision" (c. 1200). This was most common in the past-participle, blindfelled, blindfeld," whence the -d was, in the 15th c., erroneously admitted to the stem of the vb." [OED]. It was further altered early 16c. by similarity to fold, from the notion of "folding" a band of cloth over the eyes. Related: Blindfolded; blindfolding.blink (n.)1590s, "a glance," of uncertain origin, perhaps from a continental Germanic language; see blink (v.). As is the case with the verb, there is a similar noun in Middle English, from c. 1300, that might represent a native form of the same root. Meaning "action of blinking" is from 1924. From the sense "a flicker, a spark," comes on the blink "nearly extinguished," hence "not functioning" (1901).blink (v.)1580s, perhaps from Middle Dutch blinken "to glitter," which is of uncertain origin, possibly, with German blinken "to gleam, sparkle, twinkle," from a nasalized form of base found in Old English blican "to shine, glitter" (from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn").
Middle English had blynke (c. 1300) in the sense "a brief gleam or spark," perhaps a variant of blench "to move suddenly or sharply; to raise one's eyelids" (c. 1200), perhaps from the rare Old English blencan "deceive."
Originally with a vague and shifting set of meanings, many now obsolete, having to do with motion of the eyes; in earlier use "the notion of 'glancing' predominates; in the latter, that of 'winking'" [OED]. Meaning "cast a sudden, fleeting light" is from 1786; that of "shut the eyes momentarily and involuntarily" is from 1858. Related: Blinked; blinking. The last, as a euphemism for a stronger word, is attested by 1914.
blintz (n.)1903, from Yiddish blintze, from Russian blinyets, diminutive of blin "pancake," from Old Russian blinu, which is perhaps ultimately from PIE root *mele- "to crush, grind."blister (n.)c. 1300, "thin vesicle on the skin containing watery matter," perhaps via Old French blestre "blister, lump, bump," from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse blastr "a blowing," dative blæstri "swelling"), or from Middle Dutch blyster "swelling;" all perhaps from PIE *bhlei- "to blow, swell," extension of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."blister (v.)late 15c., "to become covered in blisters;," 1540s, "to raise blisters on," from blister (n.). Related: Blistered; blistering.blitzkrieg (n.)"rapid attack," 1939, from German Blitzkrieg, from Krieg "war" (see kriegspiel) + Blitz "lightning," from Middle High German blicze, back-formation from bliczen "to flash," from Old High German blecchazzen "to flash, lighten" (8c.), from Proto-Germanic *blikkatjan, from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn."
bloat (v.)1660s, "to cause to swell" (earlier, in reference to cured fish, "to cause to be soft," 1610s), from now obsolete bloat (adj.), attested from c. 1300 as "soft, flabby, flexible, pliable," but by 17c. meaning "puffed up, swollen." It is perhaps from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse blautr "soaked, soft from being cooked in liquid" (compare Swedish blöt fisk "soaked fish"), possibly from Proto-Germanic *blaut-, from PIE *bhleu- "to swell, well up," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."
Influenced by or combined with Old English blawan "blow, puff." Figurative use by 1711. Intransitive meaning "to swell, to become swollen" is from 1735. Related: Bloated; bloating.bloat (n.)1860, "a contemptible person" (perhaps with notions of being bloated by indulgence in alcohol, etc.), from bloat (v.). By 1878 as a disease of livestock; meaning "bloatedness" is from 1905.blond (adj.)of hair, "of a golden or light golden-brown color," late 15c., from Old French blont "fair, blond" (12c.), from the same source as Medieval Latin blundus "yellow," but of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Frankish *blund or another Germanic source (compare Dutch, German, Danish blond).
If it is a Germanic word, it is possibly related to Old English blonden-feax "gray-haired," from blondan, blandan "to mix" (see blend (v.)). According to Littré, the original sense of the French word was "a colour midway between golden and light chestnut," which might account for the notion of "mixed." [But Century Dictionary finds this "hardly probable."]
Old English beblonden meant "dyed," so it is also possible that the root meaning of blonde, if it is Germanic, may be "dyed," as ancient Teutonic warriors were noted for dying their hair. Du Cange, however, writes that blundus was a vulgar pronunciation of Latin flavus "yellow." Another guess (discounted by German etymologists), is that it represents a Vulgar Latin *albundus, from alba "white."
The word was reintroduced into English 17c. from French, and was until recently still felt as French, hence blonde (with French feminine ending) for females. Italian biondo, Spanish blondo, Old Provençal blon are said to be ultimately of Germanic origin.
Fair hair was much esteemed by both the Greeks and Romans, and so they not only dyed and gold-dusted theirs ..., but also went so far as to gild the hair of their statues, as notably those of Venus de Medici and Apollo. In the time of Ovid (A.U.C. 711) much fair hair was imported from Germany, by the Romans, as it was considered quite the fashionable color. Those Roman ladies who did not choose to wear wigs of this hue, were accustomed to powder theirs freely with gold dust, so as to give it the fashionable yellow tint. [C. Henry Leonard, "The Hair," 1879]
blond (n.)c. 1755 of a type of lace (originally unbleached silk, hence the name); 1822 of persons with blond hair and fair complexions; from blond (adj.).blood (v.)1590s, "to smear or stain with blood;" 1620s, "to cause to bleed," from blood (n.). Meaning "to give (a hunting animal) its first taste of blood" is from 1781. Related: Blooded; blooding.blood (n.)Old English blod "blood, fluid which circulates in the arteries and veins," from Proto-Germanic *blodam "blood" (source also of Old Frisian blod, Old Saxon blôd, Old Norse bloð, Middle Dutch bloet, Dutch bloed, Old High German bluot, German Blut, Gothic bloþ), from PIE *bhlo-to-, perhaps meaning "to swell, gush, spurt," or "that which bursts out" (compare Gothic bloþ "blood," bloma "flower"), from suffixed form of root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom."
There seems to have been an avoidance in Germanic, perhaps from taboo, of other PIE words for "blood," such as *esen- (source of poetic Greek ear, Old Latin aser, Sanskrit asrk, Hittite eshar); also *krew-, which seems to have had a sense of "blood outside the body, gore from a wound" (source of Latin cruour "blood from a wound," Greek kreas "meat"), but which came to mean simply "blood" in the Balto-Slavic group and some other languages.
Inheritance and relationship senses (also found in Latin sanguis, Greek haima) emerged in English by mid-13c. Meanings "person of one's family, race, kindred; offspring, one who inherits the blood of another" are late 14c. As the fluid of life (and the presumed seat of the passions), blood has stood for "temper of mind, natural disposition" since c. 1300 and been given many figurative extensions. Slang meaning "hot spark, a man of fire" [Johnson] is from 1560s. Blood pressure attested from 1862. Blood money is from 1530s; originally money paid for causing the death of another.
Blood type is from 1928. That there were different types of human blood was discovered c. 1900 during early experiments in transfusion. To get blood from a stone "do the impossible" is from 1660s. Expression blood is thicker than water attested by 1803, in reference to family ties of those separated by distance. New (or fresh) blood, in reference to new members of an organization or group, especially ones bringing new ideas and fresh vigor or strength, is from 1880.bloom (n.2)"rough mass of wrought iron," from Old English bloma "lump of metal; mass," which is of unknown origin. Identical in form to bloom (n.1), and sometimes regarded as a secondary sense of it, but evidence of a connection is wanting.bloom (n.1)"blossom of a plant," c. 1200, a northern word, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse blomi "flower, blossom," also collectively "flowers and foliage on trees;" from Proto-Germanic *blomon (source also of Old Saxon blomo, Middle Dutch bloeme, Dutch bloem, Old High German bluomo, German Blume, Gothic bloma), from PIE *bhle- (source also of Old Irish blath "blossom, flower," Latin flos "flower," florere "to blossom, flourish"), extended form of root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom." Related to Old English blowan "to flower" (see blow (v.2)).
Not extended like 'flower' to a whole 'flowering plant', and expressing a more delicate notion than 'blossom', which is more commonly florescence bearing promise of fruit, while 'bloom' is florescence thought of as the culminating beauty of the plant. Cherry trees are said to be in blossom, hyacinths in bloom. [OED]
Transferred sense, of persons, "pre-eminence, superiority," is from c. 1300; meaning "state of greatest loveliness" is from early 14c.; that of "blush on the cheeks" is from 1752. Old English had cognate bloma, but only in the figurative sense of "state of greatest beauty;" the main word in Old English for "flower" was blostm (see blossom (n.)). bloom (v.)mid-13c., blomen, "bear flowers, blossom, be in flower," from an Old Norse noun from the same source as bloom (n.1). Related: Bloomed; blooming.blossom (v.)late 14c., from Old English blostmian "put forth blossoms, to flower," from blostma "a blossom, a flower" (see blossom (n.)). Figurative use from late 14c. Related: Blossomed; blossoming.blossom (n.)c. 1200, from Old English blostm, blostma "a flower of a plant," from Proto-Germanic *blo-s- (source also of Middle Low German blosom, Dutch bloesem, German Blust), from PIE *bhlow-, extended form of root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom." This is the native word, now largely superseded by bloom (n.1) from Old Norse and flower (n.) from French.blow (n.1)"a hard hit (with a fist)," mid-15c., blaw, blowe, from northern and East Midlands dialects, perhaps from Middle Dutch blouwen "to beat," or an unrecorded Old English cognate. The ordinary Old English word for "to strike" was slean (see slay. A common Germanic word; compare German bleuen, Gothic bliggwan "to strike."
Influenced in English by blow (v.1). Figurative sense of "a sudden shock or calamity" is from 1670s. To come to blows "engage in combat" is from 1650s (fall to blows is from 1590s). In reference to descriptions or accounts, blow-by-blow is recorded from 1921, American English, originally of detailed accounts in prize-fight broadcasts.
LIKE a hungry kitten loves its saucer of warm milk, so do radio fans joyfully listen to the blow-by-blow broadcast description of a boxing bout. ["The Wireless Age," December 1922]
blow (v.2)"to bloom, blossom, put forth flowers" (intransitive), from Old English blowan "to flower, blossom, flourish," from Proto-Germanic *blæ- (source also of Old Saxon bloian, Old Frisian bloia, Middle Dutch and Dutch bloeien, Old High German bluoen, German blühen), from PIE root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom." This verb is the source of the blown in full-blown. Figurative sense of "attain perfection" is from c. 1600.blow (n.2)"a blowing, a blast of wind," c. 1500, from blow (v.1).blow (v.1)"move air, produce a current of air," Old English blawan "to blow (of the wind, bellows, etc.), breathe, make an air current; kindle; inflate; sound (a wind instrument)" (class VII strong verb; past tense bleow, past participle blawen), from Proto-Germanic *blæ-anan (source of Old High German blaen, German blähen), from PIE root *bhle- "to blow."
Transitive sense of "carry by a wind or current of air" is from c. 1300; that of "to fill with air, inflate" is from late 14c. Of noses from 1530s; of electrical fuses from 1902. Meaning "to squander" (money) is from 1874; meaning "lose or bungle (an opportunity, etc.) is by 1943. Sense of "depart (some place) suddenly" is from 1902. For sexual sense, see blow-job.
As a colloquial imprecation by 1781, associated with sailors (as in Popeye's "well, blow me down!"); it has past participle blowed.
To blow (a candle, etc.) out "extinguish by a current of air" is from late 14c. To blow over "pass" is from 1610s, originally of storms. To blow hot and cold "vacillate" is from 1570s. To blow off steam (1837) is a figurative use from steam engines releasing pressure. Slang blow (someone or something) off "dismiss, ignore" is by 1986. To blow (someone's) mind was in use by 1967; there is a song title "Blow Your Mind" released in a 1965 Mirawood recording by a group called The Gas Company.
blue (v.)"to make blue," c. 1600, from blue (adj.1).blue (adj.1)"of the color of the clear sky," c. 1300, bleu, blwe, etc., "sky-colored," also "livid, lead-colored," from Old French blo, bleu "pale, pallid, wan, light-colored; blond; discolored; blue, blue-gray," from Frankish *blao or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *blæwaz (source also of Old English blaw, Old Saxon and Old High German blao, Danish blaa, Swedish blå, Old Frisian blau, Middle Dutch bla, Dutch blauw, German blau "blue").
This is from PIE *bhle-was "light-colored, blue, blond, yellow," from root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn," also "shining white" and forming words for bright colors. The same PIE root yielded Latin flavus "yellow," Old Spanish blavo "yellowish-gray," Greek phalos "white," Welsh blawr "gray," showing the slipperiness of definition in Indo-European color-words. Many Indo-European languages seem to have had a word to describe the color of the sea, encompassing blue and green and gray; such as Irish glass (from PIE root *ghel- (2) "to shine,"); Old English hæwen "blue, gray," related to har (see hoar); Serbo-Croatian sinji "gray-blue, sea-green;" Lithuanian šyvas, Russian sivyj "gray."
The present spelling in English is since 16c., common from c. 1700. The sense "lead-colored, blackish-blue, darkened as if by bruising" is perhaps by way of the Old Norse cognate bla "livid, lead-colored." It is the meaning in black and blue, and blue in the face "livid with effort" (1864, earlier black and blue in the face, 1829).
The color of constancy since Chaucer at least, but apparently for no deeper reason than the rhyme in true blue (c. 1500). Figurative meaning "sad, sorrowful, afflicted with low spirits" is from c. 1400, perhaps from the "livid" sense and implying a bruised heart or feelings. Of women, "learned, pedantic," by 1788 (see bluestocking). In some phrases, such as blue murder, it appears to be merely intensive. Blue was by c. 1600 the distinctive color of the dress of servants, which may be the reason police uniforms are blue, a tradition Farmer dates to Elizabethan times.
Blue pencil as an editor's characteristic tool to mark corrections in copy is from 1885; also as a verb from 1885. The fabulous story of Blue-beard, who kept his murdered wives in a locked room, is from 1798. For blue ribbon see cordon bleu under cordon. Blue whale attested from 1851, so called for its color. Blue cheese is from 1862. Blue water "the open ocean" is from 1822. Blue streak, of something resembling a bolt of lightning (for quickness, intensity, etc.) is from 1830, Kentucky slang. Delaware has been the Blue Hen State at least since 1830, supposedly from a nickname of its regiments in the Revolutionary War.
The exact color to which the Gmc. term applies varies in the older dialects; M.H.G. bla is also 'yellow,' whereas the Scandinavian words may refer esp. to a deep, swarthy black, e.g. O.N. blamaðr, N.Icel. blamaður 'Negro' [Buck]
Few words enter more largely into the composition of slang, and colloquialisms bordering on slang, than does the word BLUE. Expressive alike of the utmost contempt, as of all that men hold dearest and love best, its manifold combinations, in ever varying shades of meaning, greet the philologist at every turn. [John S. Farmer, "Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present," 1890, p.252]
blue (adj.2)"lewd, indecent" recorded from 1840 (in form blueness, in an essay of Carlyle's); the sense connection with the color name (see blue (adj.1)) is unclear, and is opposite to that in blue laws (q.v.). John Mactaggart's "Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia" (1824), containing odd words he had learned while growing up in Galloway and elsewhere in Scotland, has an entry for Thread o'Blue, "any little smutty touch in song-singing, chatting, or piece of writing." Farmer ["Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present," 1890] offers the theory that this meaning derives from the blue dress uniforms issued to harlots in houses of correction (from c. 1600), but he writes that the earlier slang authority John Camden Hotten "suggests it as coming from the French Bibliothèque Bleu, a series of books of very questionable character," and adds, from Hotten, that, "Books or conversation of an entirely opposite nature are said to be Brown or Quakerish, i.e., serious, grave, decent."blue (n.)"the color of the clear sky," c. 1300, from blue (adj.1). From late 15c. as "blue clothing." The blue is from 1640s as "the sky" (hence bolt from the blue "lightning," 1837); from 1821 as "the sea." In reference to a particular party which has chosen blue for its color, by 1835. "In most parts of England the Conservative party" [OED], but in 17c. it often was the Whig color (opposed to royal red).blush (n.)mid-14c., "a look, a glance" (sense preserved in at first blush "at first glance"), also "a gleam, a gleaming" (late 14c.), from blush (v.). As "a reddening of the face" from 1590s. Meaning "a rosy color" is also from 1590s.blush (v.)late 14c., bluschen, blischen, "to shine brightly; to look, gaze, stare," probably from Old English blyscan "blush, become red, glow" (glossing Latin rutilare), akin to blyse "torch," from Proto-Germanic *blisk- "to shine, burn," which also yielded words in Low German (Dutch blozen "to blush") and Scandinavian (Danish blusse "to blaze; to blush"); ultimately from PIE *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn."
For vowel evolution, see bury. Sense of "turn red in the face" (from shame, modesty, confusion, etc.) is from c. 1400. Related: Blushed; blushing.
bo tree (n.)1680s, from Sinhalese bo, from Pali bodhi, short for bodhi-taru "bo tree," literally "tree of wisdom or enlightenment" (related to Sanskrit buddhah "awakened," from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware") + taru "tree."bode (v.)Old English bodian "proclaim, announce; announce beforehand, foretell," from boda "messenger," probably from Proto-Germanic *budon- (source also of Old Saxon gibod, German gebot, Old Norse boð), from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware."
With good or ill, "give a (good or bad) potent or promise," late 14c. As a shortened form of forebode "presage" (usually something evil), it dates from 1740. Related: Boded; boding.bodega (n.)1846, "wine shop," from Mexican Spanish, from Spanish bodega "a wine shop; wine-cellar," from Latin apotheca, from Greek apotheke "depot, store" (see apothecary). Since 1970s in American English it has come to mean "corner convenience store or grocery," especially in a Spanish-speaking community, but in New York City and some other places used generically. Also a doublet of boutique. Italian cognate bottega entered English c. 1900 as "artist's workshop or studio," especially in Italy.Bodhisattva (n.)"one of a class of beings in Mahayana Buddhism who have attained supreme wisdom," 1828, from Sanskrit, literally "one whose essence is perfect knowledge," from bodhi "perfect knowledge" (see Buddha) + sattva "reality, being," from sat-, sant- "existing, true, virtuous," from PIE root *es- "to be."Boeotian (adj.)"ignorant, dull," 1590s, from Boeotia, district around Thebes in ancient Greece (said to have been so called for its cattle pastures; from Greek bous "ox," from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"), whose inhabitants were characterized as proverbially dull and countrified by their neighbors to the east, the Athenians, who thought Boeotia "a canton hopelessly behind the times, a slow canton, as the nimble Attics would say, a glorious climate for eels, but a bad air for brains" [B.L. Gildersleeve, "Pindar: The Olympian and Pythian Odes"]. The Boeotians presumably held reciprocal opinions, but their great writers, Plutarch and Pindar, though patriots, are full of praise for Athenian deeds and institutions.
Though his aim was to vindicate Boeotia, [Pindar] has probably done her a disservice, in that he has helped to immortalise the scurrilous proverb Βοιωτία ύς [Boeotian swine], which he wished to confute. ... If left to itself, the slander might have passed into oblivion long ago. [W. Rhys Roberts, "The Ancient Boeotians," 1895]
Boer (n.)"Dutch colonist in South Africa," 1824, from Dutch boer "farmer," from Middle Dutch, cognate with Old English gebur "dweller, farmer, peasant," and thus related to bower, German Bauer, and the final syllable of neighbor; from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow."
The Boer War (1899-1902), in which Great Britain defeated the South African Republic of Transvaal and Orange Free State, was technically the Second Boer War, there having been a brief preview 1880-1881. boil (v.)early 13c. (intransitive) "to bubble up, be in a state of ebullition," especially from heat, from Old French bolir "boil, bubble up, ferment, gush" (12c., Modern French bouillir), from Latin bullire "to bubble, seethe," from PIE *beu- "to swell" (see bull (n.2)). The native word is seethe. Figurative sense, of passions, feelings, etc., "be in an agitated state" is from 1640s.I am impatient, and my blood boyls high. [Thomas Otway, "Alcibiades," 1675]
Transitive sense "put into a boiling condition, cause to boil" is from early 14c. The noun is from mid-15c. as "an act of boiling," 1813 as "state of boiling." Related: Boiled; boiling. Boiling point "temperature at which a liquid is converted into vapor" is recorded from 1773.boil (n.)"hard tumor," altered from Middle English bile (Kentish bele), perhaps by association with the verb; from Old English byl, byle "boil, carbuncle," from West Germanic *buljon- "swelling" (source also of Old Frisian bele, Old High German bulia, German Beule). Perhaps ultimately from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell," or from *beu- "to grow, swell" (see bull (n.2); also compare boast (n.)). Compare Old Irish bolach "pustule," Gothic ufbauljan "to puff up," Icelandic beyla "hump."
bold (adj.)Old English beald (West Saxon), bald (Anglian) "stout-hearted, brave, confident, strong," from Proto-Germanic *balthaz (source also of Old High German bald "bold, swift," in names such as Archibald, Leopold, Theobald; Gothic balþei "boldness;" Old Norse ballr "frightful, dangerous"), perhaps from PIE *bhol-to- suffixed form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."
Meaning "requiring or exhibiting courage" is from mid-13c. Also in a bad sense, "audacious, presumptuous, overstepping usual bounds" (c. 1200). From 1670s as "standing out to view, striking the eye." Of flavors (coffee, etc.) from 1829. The noun meaning "those who are bold" is from c. 1300 in both admiring and disparaging senses. Old French and Provençal baut "bold," Italian baldo "bold, daring, fearless" are Germanic loan-words. Related: Boldly; boldness.bole (n.)"body or trunk of a tree," early 14c., from Old Norse bolr "tree trunk," from Proto-Germanic *bulas (source also of Middle Dutch bolle "trunk of a tree"), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."boll (n.)Old English bolla "bowl, cup, pot, round vessel for containing liquids," merged with Middle Dutch bolle "round object," borrowed 13c., both from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Influenced in meaning by Latin bulla "bubble, ball." Extended c. 1500 to "round seed pod of flax or cotton." Boll weevil, which damages cotton bolls, is so called from 1895, American English.
In south Texas, among Spanish-speaking people, the insect is generally known as the 'picudo,' a descriptive name which refers to the snout or beak of the insect. English-speaking planters generally referred to the insect at first as 'the sharpshooter,' a term which for many years has been applied to any insect which causes through its punctures the shedding of the squares or the rotting of the bolls. As there are several native insects that are commonly called sharpshooters and which, though injurious, are by no means to be compared with this insect, it becomes necessary to discourage in every way the use of the word sharpshooter as applied to this weevil. The adoption of the term 'Mexican cotton-boll weevil' for the new pest is recommended. [New Mexico College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 19, April 1896]
A case of entomology meddling in etymology.bollix (v.)"bungle, make a mess of," 1937, a respelling (perhaps euphemistic) of bollocks, from Old English beallucas "testicles," from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." From 1919 as an interjection, "nonsense!" Related: Bollixed; bollixing.bollocks (n.)"testicles," 1744, variant of ballocks, from Old English beallucas "testicles," from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." In British slang, as an ejaculation, "nonsense!" from 1919.Bolshevik (n.)"Russian radical socialist of the revolutionary period," 1917, from Russian bol'shevik (plural bol'sheviki), bol'shiy "greater," comparative of adjective bol'shoy "big, great" (as in Bolshoi Ballet), from Old Church Slavonic boljiji "larger," from PIE root *bel- "strong" (source also of Sanskrit balam "strength, force," Greek beltion "better," Phrygian balaios "big, fast," Old Irish odbal "strong," Welsh balch "proud;" Middle Dutch, Low German, Frisian pal "strong, firm").
The faction of the Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party after a split in 1903 that was either "larger" or "more extreme" (or both) than the Mensheviks (from Russian men'shij "less"); after they seized power in 1917, the name was applied generally to Russian communists, then also to anyone opposed to an existing order or social system. Bolshevism is recorded from 1917.bolster (v.)mid-15c. (implied in bolstered), "prop up; make to bulge" (originally of a woman's breasts), from bolster (n.). Figurative sense is from c. 1500, on the notion of "to support with a bolster, prop up." Related: Bolstering.bolster (n.)Old English bolster "bolster, cushion, something stuffed so that it swells up," especially "a long, stuffed pillow," from Proto-Germanic *bolkhstraz (source also of Old Norse bolstr, Danish, Swedish, Dutch bolster, German polster), from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Applied since 15c. to various parts which support others.bolt (n.)Old English bolt "short, stout arrow with a heavy head;" also "crossbow for throwing bolts," from Proto-Germanic *bultas (source also of Old Norse bolti, Danish bolt, Dutch bout, German Bolzen), perhaps originally "arrow, missile," and from PIE *bheld- "to knock, strike" (source also of Lithuanian beldžiu "I knock," baldas "pole for striking").
Applied since Middle English to other short metal rods (especially those with knobbed ends): meanings "stout pin for fastening objects together" and "part of a lock which springs out" are both from c. 1400. A bolt of canvas (c. 1400) was so called for its shape. Adverbial phrase bolt upright (like a bolt or arrow) is from late 14c. Meaning "sliding metal rod that thrusts the cartridge into the chamber of a firearm" is from 1859. From the notion of an arrow's flight comes the bolt of lightning (1530s) and the sense of "a sudden spring or start" (1540s).
bombast (n.)1570s, "cotton padding," corrupted from earlier bombace "raw cotton" (1550s), from Old French bombace "cotton, cotton wadding," from Late Latin bombacem, accusative of bombax "cotton, 'linteorum aut aliae quaevis quisquiliae,' " a corruption and transferred use of Latin bombyx "silk," from Greek bombyx "silk, silkworm" (which also came to mean "cotton" in Medieval Greek), from some oriental word, perhaps related to Iranian pambak (modern panba) or Armenian bambok, perhaps ultimately from a PIE root meaning "to twist, wind."
Also from the same source are Swedish bomull, Danish bomuld "cotton," and, via Turkish forms, Modern Greek mpampaki, Rumanian bumbac, Serbo-Croatian pamuk. German baumwolle "cotton" probably is from the Latin word but altered by folk-etymology to look like "tree wool." Polish bawełna, Lithuanian bovelna are partial translations from German.
From stuffing and padding for clothes or upholstery, meaning extended to "pompous, empty speech" (1580s).
Bombast was originally applied to a stuff of soft, loose texture, once used to swell the garment. Fustian was also a kind of cloth of stiff expansive character. These terms are applied to a high, swelling style of writing, full of extravagant sentiments and expressions. Bathos is a word which has the same application, meaning generally the mock heroic--that "depth" into which one falls who overleaps the sublime; the step which one makes in order to pass from the sublime to the ridiculous. [James de Mille, "Elements of Rhetoric," 1878]
bona fide (adv.)1540s, "genuinely, with sincerity," Latin, literally "in or with good faith," ablative of bona fides "good faith" (see faith). Originally in English an adverb, later (18c.) also an adjective, "acting or done in good faith." The opposite is mala fide.Bonaparte in reference to Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), Corsican-born French military leader and dictator; the surname is the French form of Italian Buonaparte, from buona "good" (from Latin bonus "good;" see bonus) + parte "part, share, portion" (from Latin partem "a part, piece, a share, a division," from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot"). Related: Bonapartist; Bonapartism.
bond (v.)1670s, "to put in a bond" (transitive), from bond (n.). Intransitive sense "hold together from being bonded" is from 1836. Originally of things; of persons by 1969.bond (adj.)c. 1300, "in a state of a serf, unfree," from bond (n.) "tenant, farmer holding land under a lord in return for customary service; a married bond as head of a household" (mid-13c.). The Old English form was bonda, bunda "husbandman, householder," but the Middle English word probably is from Old Norse *bonda, a contraction of boande, buande "occupier and tiller of soil, peasant, husbandman," a noun from the past participle of bua, boa "to dwell" (from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow").
"In the more despotic Norway and Denmark, bo'ndi became a word of contempt, denoting the common low people. ... In the Icelandic Commonwealth the word has a good sense, and is often used of the foremost men ...." [OED]. The sense of the noun deteriorated in English after the Conquest and the rise of the feudal system, from "free farmer" to "serf, slave" (c. 1300) and the word became associated with unrelated bond (n.) and bound (adj.1).bond (n.)early 13c., "anything that binds, fastens, or confines," phonetic variant of band (n.1) and at first interchangeable with it. For vowel change, see long (adj.); also influenced by unrelated Old English bonda "householder," literally "dweller" (see bond (adj.)).
It preserves more distinctly than band the connection with bind and bound (adj.1) and is now the main or only form in the sense of "restraining or uniting force." From early 14c. as "an agreement or covenant;" from late 14c. as "a binding or uniting power or influence." Legalistic sense "an instrument binding one to pay a sum to another" first recorded 1590s. Meaning "a method of laying bricks in courses" is from 1670s.bondage (n.)c. 1300, "legal condition of a serf or slave," from Middle English bond "a serf, tenant farmer," from Old English bonda "householder," from or cognate with Old Norse boandi "free-born farmer," noun use of present participle of boa "dwell, prepare, inhabit," from PIE *bhow-, from root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow." For sense evolution, see bond (adj.). The sexual sado-masochism sense is recorded by 1966.bonhomie (n.)"frank and simple good nature," 1803, from French bonhomie "good nature, easy temper," from bonhomme "good man" (with unusual loss of -m-), from bon "good" (see bon) + homme "man," from Latin homo "man" (see homunculus). The native equivalent is goodman. Bonhomme "member of an order of begging friars" is from 1620s.boodle (n.)1833, "crowd;" 1858, "phony money," especially "graft money," actual or potential (1883), both American English slang, either or both based on bundle (n.), or from Dutch boedel "property, riches," which is from Proto-Germanic *bothla, from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow."boom (v.)mid-15c., bomben, bummyn, "buzz, hum, drone, make a deep, hollow, continuous sound" (earliest use was for bees and wasps), probably echoic of humming. The meaning "make a loud noise, roar, rumble, reverberate" is from 15c. Compare bomb. Meaning "to burst into prosperity" (of places, businesses, etc.) is 1871, American English. Related: Boomed; booming. Boom box "large portable stereo cassette player" first attested 1978.boom (n.1)"long pole," 1640s, specifically, "long spar run out from a ship" (1660s), from Scottish boun, borrowed from Dutch boom "tree, pole, beam," from a Middle Dutch word analogous to German Baum, English beam (n.). As "movable bar for a microphone or camera," 1931.boom (n.3)"sudden start or increase in commercial or other activity," 1873, sometimes said to be from boom (n.1) in the specific nautical meaning "a long spar run out to extend the foot of a sail" -- a ship "booming" being one in full sail. But it could just as well be from boom (n.2) on the notion of "sudden burst." The verbal sense "burst into sudden activity" seems to be slightly older (1871). Boom town is from 1883. The economic cycle of boom and bust has been so called since 1937.
boom (n.2)"loud, deep, hollow, continued sound," c. 1500, from boom (v.). Compare boondi Aboriginal word for waves breaking on a beach (source of Sydney's Bondi Beach), said to be imitative of the sound.boon (n.)late 12c., bone "a petition, a prayer," from Old Norse bon "a petition, prayer," from Proto-Germanic *boniz (source also of Old English ben "prayer, petition," bannan "to summon;" see ban (v.)). The sense gradually passed from "favor asked" to "thing asked for," to "a good thing received, a benefit enjoyed" (1767).boon (adj.)in boon companion "convivial friend, close intimate" (1560s), the only real survival of Middle English boon "good" (early 14c.), from Old French bon (see bon), from Latin bonus "good" (see bonus). Probably influenced by boon (n.).boor (n.)early 14c., "country-man, peasant farmer, rustic," from Old French bovier "herdsman," from Latin bovis, genitive of bos "cow, ox." This was reinforced by or merged with native Old English gebur "dweller, farmer, peasant" (unrelated but similar in sound and sense), and 16c. by its Dutch cognate boer, from Middle Dutch gheboer "fellow dweller," from Proto-Germanic *buram "dweller," especially "farmer" (compare German Bauer), from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow."
"A word of involved history in and out of English, though the ultimate etymology is clear enough" [OED]. In English it often was applied to agricultural laborers in or from other lands, as opposed to the native yeoman; negative transferred sense "one who is rude in manners" attested by 1560s (in boorish), from notion of clownish rustics. Related: Boorishness.Bootes northern constellation containing the bright star Arcturus, late 14c., Boetes, from Latin Boötes, from Greek Boötes, literally "cow-herd," from bous "cow, bull, ox" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"). Also see Arcturus.booth (n.)c. 1200, mid-12c. in place-names, "temporary structure of boards, etc.," especially a stall for the sale of goods or food or entertainment, at a fair, etc., from Old Danish boþ "temporary dwelling," from East Norse *boa "to dwell," from Proto-Germanic *bowan-, from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow." See also bower, and compare German Bude "booth, stall," Middle Dutch boode, Lithuanian butas "house," Old Irish both "hut," Bohemian bouda, Polish buda, some of which probably were borrowed from East Norse, some independently formed from the PIE root.bore (v.1)Old English borian "to bore through, perforate," from bor "auger," from Proto-Germanic *buron (source also of Old Norse bora, Swedish borra, Old High German boron, Middle Dutch boren, German bohren), from PIE root *bhorh- "hole."boreal (adj.)"northern," late 15c., from Late Latin borealis, from Latin Boreas "north wind," from Greek Boreas, name of the god of the north wind, which is of unknown origin, perhaps related to words in Sanskrit (giri-) and Balto-Slavic (Lithuanian girė, Old Church Slavonic gora) for "mountain" (also "forest") as if "those living beyond the mountains."
Boris Slavic masc. proper name, literally "fight," from Slavic root *bor- "to fight, overcome" (from PIE root *bhorh- "hole").borough (n.)Old English burg, burh "a dwelling or dwellings within a fortified enclosure," from Proto-Germanic *burgs "hill fort, fortress" (source also of Old Frisian burg "castle," Old Norse borg "wall, castle," Old High German burg, buruc "fortified place, citadel," German Burg "castle," Gothic baurgs "city"), from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives referring to hills, hill forts, and fortified elevations.
In German and Old Norse, chiefly as "fortress, castle;" in Gothic, "town, civic community." Meaning shifted in Old English from "fortress," to "fortified town," then simply "town" (16c., especially one possessing municipal organization or sending representatives to Parliament). In some U.S. states (originally Pennsylvania, 1718) often an incorporated town; in Alaska, however, it is the equivalent of a county. As one of the five administrative divisions of New York City, it dates from the consolidation of 1898; in London, its use dates from the London Government Act of 1899.
The Scottish form is burgh. The Old English dative singular byrig survives in many place names as -bury.
borrow (v.)Old English borgian "to lend, be surety for," from Proto-Germanic *borg "pledge" (source also of Old English borg "pledge, security, bail, debt," Old Norse borga "to become bail for, guarantee," Middle Dutch borghen "to protect, guarantee," Old High German boragen "to beware of," German borgen "to borrow; to lend"), from PIE root *bhergh- (1) "to hide, protect."
Sense shifted in Old English to the modern one, "take or obtain (something) on pledge to return it or security given," apparently on the notion of collateral deposited as security for something borrowed. Figurative use from early 13c. As an operation in subtraction, 1590s. Related: Borrowed; borrowing. Phrase borrowed time is from 1848.
borscht (n.)"Russian soup made with beets and cabbage," 1884, from Russian borshch "cow parsnip," which was an original recipe ingredient. Borscht belt "region of predominantly Jewish resorts in and around the Catskill Mountains of New York" (also known as the Yiddish Alps) is by 1938.borzoi (n.)Russian wolfhound, 1887, from Russian borzoy, literally "swift, quick" (compare Czech brzy, Serbo-Croatian brzo "quickly," Lithuanian bruzdėti "to hurry").
Bosnia named for the River Bosna, which is perhaps from an Indo-European root *bhog- "current." As a name or adjective for someone there, Bosniac (1756, from Russian Bosnyak) is older in English than Bosnian (1788).Bosphorus a Latin error for bosporus, from Greek bosporos, a name applied to several channels or straits between seas, literally "ox's ford," from bous "ox" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + poros "passage, ford" (see pore (n.)). Applied especially to that between the Sea of Marmora and the Black Sea (the Thracian Bosphorus).bossy (adj.)1540s, "swelling, projecting and rounded, decorated with bosses" from boss (n.2). Meaning "domineering, fond of ordering people about" is recorded 1882, from boss (n.1) + -y (2). As a common cow name (by 1844) it represents Latin bos "cow" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"). Related: Bossily; bossiness.boulder (n.)1610s, "water-worn rounded stone of medium or large size," variant of Middle English bulder ston "stone worn round, cobblestone" (c. 1300), from a Scandinavian source akin to Swedish dialectal bullersten "noisy stone" (large stone in a stream, causing water to roar around it), from bullra "to roar" + sten "stone." Or the first element might be from *buller- "round object," from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Specific geological sense "large weather-worn block of stone standing by itself" is from 1813.boulevard (n.)1769, "broad street or promenade planted with rows of trees," from French boulevard, originally "top surface of a military rampart" (15c.), from a garbled attempt to adopt Middle Dutch bolwerc "wall of a fortification" (see bulwark) into French, which at that time lacked a -w- in its alphabet.
The notion is of a promenade laid out atop demolished city walls, a way which would be much wider than urban streets. Originally in English with conscious echoes of Paris; in U.S., since 1929, used of multi-lane limited-access urban highways. Early French attempts to digest the Dutch word also include boloart, boulever, boloirque, bollvercq.bound (v.1)late 14c., "to form the boundary of," also "to set the boundaries of, confine within limits;" late 15c., "to be a boundary of, abut, adjoin," from bound (n.1). Related: Bounded; bounding.bound (adj.1)"fastened," mid-14c. in figurative sense of "compelled," earlier in fuller form bounden (c. 1300), past-participle adjective from bind (v.). Meaning "under obligation" is from late 15c.; the literal sense "made fast by tying (with fetters, chains, etc.)" is by 1550s. In philology, designating a grammatical element which occurs only in combination with others (opposed to free), from 1926.bound (adj.2)c. 1200, boun, "ready to go;" hence "going or intending to go" (c. 1400), from Old Norse buinn past participle of bua "to prepare," also "to dwell, to live," from Proto-Germanic *bowan (source also of Old High German buan "to dwell," Old Danish both "dwelling, stall"), from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow." Final -d is presumably through association with bound (adj.1).bound (n.1)c. 1300, "boundary marker," from Anglo-Latin bunda, from Old French bonde "limit, boundary, boundary stone" (12c., Modern French borne), variant of bodne, from Medieval Latin bodina, which is perhaps from Gaulish.
From mid-14c. as "an external limit, that which limits or circumscribes;" figuratively, of feelings, etc., from late 14c. From late 14c. as "limits of an estate or territory." Now chiefly in out of bounds, which originally referred to limits imposed on students at schools; the other senses generally have gone with boundary.bound (v.2)"to leap, spring upward, jump," 1590s, from Middle French bondir "to rebound, resound, echo," from Old French bondir "to leap, jump, rebound;" originally "make a noise, sound (a horn), beat (a drum)," 13c., ultimately "to echo back," from Vulgar Latin *bombitire "to buzz, hum" (see bomb (n.)), perhaps on model of Old French tentir, from Vulgar Latin *tinnitire.bound (n.2)"a leap onward or upward, a springing," 1550s, from bound (v.2).bourgeois (adj.)1560s, "of or pertaining to the French middle class," from French bourgeois, from Old French burgeis, borjois "town dweller" (as distinct from "peasant"), from borc "town, village," from Frankish *burg "city" (from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives referring to hills and hill-forts).
Later extended to tradespeople or citizens of middle rank in other nations. Sense of "socially or aesthetically conventional; middle-class in manners or taste" is from 1764. Also (from the position of the upper class) "wanting in dignity or refinement, common, not aristocratic." As a noun, "citizen or freeman of a city," 1670s. In communist and socialist writing, "a capitalist, anyone deemed an exploiter of the proletariat" (1883).
"Bourgeois," I observed, "is an epithet which the riff-raff apply to what is respectable, and the aristocracy to what is decent." [Anthony Hope, "The Dolly Dialogues," 1907]
"But after all," Fanning was saying, "it's better to be a good ordinary bourgeois than a bad ordinary bohemian, or a sham aristocrat, or a secondrate intellectual ...." [Aldous Huxley, "After the Fireworks," 1930]
bourgeoisie (n.)1707, "body of freemen in a French town," hence, "the French middle class," also extended to that of other countries, from French bourgeois, from Old French burgeis, borjois (12c.) "town dweller" (as distinct from "peasant"), from borc "town, village," from Frankish *burg "city" (from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives referring to hills and hill-forts). Communist use for "the capitalist class generally" attested from 1886.
bourn (n.1)also bourne, "small stream," especially of the winter torrents of the chalk downs, Old English brunna, burna "brook, stream," from Proto-Germanic *brunnoz "spring, fountain" (source also of Old High German brunno, Old Norse brunnr, Old Frisian burna, German Brunnen "fountain," Gothis brunna "well"), ultimately from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn." The southern England form of northern burn.bourn (n.2)"destination," 1520s, from French borne, apparently a variant of bodne "limit, boundary, boundary stone" (see bound (n.1)). Used by Shakespeare in Hamlet's soliloquy (1602) and elsewhere, from which it entered into English poetic speech. He meant it probably in the correct sense of "boundary," but it has been taken to mean "goal" (Wordsworth, Matthew Arnold) or sometimes "realm" (Keats).The dread of something after death, The vndiscouered Countrey; from whose Borne No Traueller returnes. ["Hamlet" III.i.79]
boustrophedon (n.)ancient form of writing with lines alternately written left-to-right and right-to-left, 1783, Greek, literally "turning as an ox in plowing," from bous "ox" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + strephein "to turn" (from PIE root *streb(h)- "to wind, turn").boutique (n.)"trendy fashion shop," 1950, earlier "small shop of any sort" (1767), from French boutique (14c.), from Old Provençal botica, from Latin apotheca "storehouse" (see apothecary). Latin apotheca directly into French normally would have yielded *avouaie.bovine (adj.)1817, "of or like oxen," from French bovin (14c.), from Late Latin bovinus, from Latin bos (genitive bovis) "cow," originally "ox," "a loan word from a rural dialect" [Buck, who cites Umbrian bue], from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow." Figurative sense of "inert and stupid" is from 1855.bow-wow imitative of a dog's barking, first recorded 1570s. Compare Latin baubor, Greek bauzein "to bark," Lithuanian baubti "cry," of cows, etc. bower (n.)Old English bur "room, hut, dwelling, chamber," from Proto-Germanic *bowan (source also of Old Norse bur "chamber," Swedish bur "cage," Old Danish both "dwelling, stall," Old Saxon bur "a house; a cage," Old High German bur "dwelling, chamber," buan "to dwell," German Vogelbauer "cage" for a bird), from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow."
Modern spelling developed after mid-14c. Sense of "leafy arbor" (place closed in, shaded, or sheltered by trees) is first attested 1520s. Hence, too, Australia's bower-bird (1847), so called for the ornamented play-houses it builds.bowery (n.)"farm, plantation," from Dutch bowerij "homestead farm" (from the same source as bower); a Dutch word probably little used in America outside New York, and there soon limited to one road, The Bowery, that ran from the built-up part of the city out to the plantations in middle Manhattan, attested from 1787; the city's growth soon overran it, and it was by 1840 a commercial district notorious for squalor, rowdiness, and low life. The Bowery boy as an American comic type had a heyday in the 1850s and again around 1900.
Bowery Boy, the typical New York tough of a generation or two ago, named from the street which he chiefly affected .... He rather prided himself on his uncouthness, his ignorance, and his desperado readiness to fight, but he also loved to have attention called to his courage, his gallantry to women, his patriotic enthusiasm, and his innate tenderness of heart. A fire and a thrilling melodrama called out all his energies and emotions. [Walsh, 1892]
bowl (n.2)"sphere, globe, ball," c. 1400, from Old French boule "ball," from Latin bulla "round swelling, knob" (see bull (n.2)). Meaning "large, solid ball of hard wood used in the game of bowls" is from mid-15c.bowl (n.1)"round, low vessel to hold liquids or liquid food," Old English bolla "pot, cup, bowl," from Proto-Germanic *bul- "a round vessel" (source also of Old Norse bolle, Old High German bolla), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Formerly also "a large drinking cup," hence figurative use as an emblem of festivity or drunkenness. In reference to a football-stadium 1913, originally one that is bowl-shaped.bowl (v.)"to roll a ball on the ground," typically as part of a game or contest, mid-15c., from bowl "wooden ball" (see bowls). Specifically in cricket, "deliver the ball to be played by the batsman," from 1755; the cricket sense is source of late 19c. figurative expressions bowl over "knock down" (1849), etc. Related: Bowled; bowling.boy (n.)mid-13c., boie "servant, commoner, knave" (generally young and male); c. 1300, "rascal, ruffian, knave; urchin," mid-14c. as "male child before puberty" (possibly an extended sense from the "urchin" one. A word of unknown origin.
Possibly from Old French embuie "one fettered," from Vulgar Latin *imboiare, from Latin boia "leg iron, yoke, leather collar," from Greek boeiai dorai "ox hides." (Words for "boy" double as "servant, attendant" across the Indo-European map -- compare Italian ragazzo, French garçon, Greek pais, Middle English knave, Old Church Slavonic otroku -- and often it is difficult to say which meaning came first.)
But it also appears to be identical with East Frisian boi "young gentleman," and perhaps with Dutch boef "knave," from Middle Dutch boeve, perhaps from Middle Low German buobe. This suggests a gradational relationship to babe. For a different conjecture: Used slightingly of young men in Middle English, also in familiar or contemptuous use of criminal toughs or men in the armed services. In some local uses "a man," without reference to age (OED lists "in Cornwall, in Ireland, in the far West of the U.S."). Meaning "male negro slave or Asian personal servant of any age" attested from c. 1600. Extended form boyo is attested from 1870. Emphatic exclamation oh, boy attested from 1892. Boy-meets-girl "typical of a conventional romance" is from 1945; the phrase itself is from 1934 as a dramatic formula. Boy-crazy "eager to associate with males" is from 1923.
In Old English, only the proper name Boia has been recorded. ME boi meant 'churl, servant' and (rarely) 'devil.' In texts, the meaning 'male child' does not antedate 1400. ModE boy looks like a semantic blend of an onomatopoeic word for an evil spirit (*boi) and a baby word for 'brother' (*bo). [Liberman]
A noticable number of the modern words for 'boy', 'girl', and 'child' were originally colloquial nicknames, derogatory or whimsical, in part endearing, and finally commonplace. These, as is natural, are of the most diverse, and in part obscure, origin. [Buck]
boyar (n.)member of a Russian aristocratic class, 1590s, from Russian boyarin (plural boyare), perhaps from boji "struggle," or from Slavic root *bol- "great." Originally a title (abolished by Peter the Great) of officials, it came to signify the Russian aristocracy generally.br'er also brer, in Br'er Rabbit, etc., 1881, Joel Chandler Harris' representation of U.S. Southern black pronunciation of brother.Brabant region in eastern Belgium (in the Middle Ages a duchy and much more extensive), from Old High German brahha "newly broken land" (see break (v.)) + bant "region." Related: Brabançon; Brabanter; Brabantine.brachiopod (n.)type of bivalve mollusk of the class Brachiopoda, 1836, Modern Latin, from Greek brakhion "an arm" (see brachio-) + pous "foot" (from PIE root *ped- "foot"). They develop long spiral "arms" from either side of their mouths.bracken (n.)"coarse fern," c. 1300, a northern England word, probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish bregne, Swedish bräken "fern"), from Proto-Germanic *brak- "undergrowth, bushes," from PIE root *bhreg- "to break" on the notion of "that which impedes motion" [Watkins].braise (v.)"to stew in a closed pan with heat from above and below," 1797, braze, from French braiser "to stew, cook over live coals" (17c.), from braise "live coals," from Old French brese "embers" (12c.), ultimately (along with Italian bragia, Spanish brasa) from Proto-Germanic *brasa, from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn." Related: Braised; braising.brake (n.1)mid-15c., "instrument for crushing or pounding," from Middle Dutch braeke "flax brake," from breken "to break" (see break (v.)). The word was applied to many crushing implements, especially the tool for breaking up the woody part of flax to loosen the fibers. It also was applied to the ring through the nose of a draught ox. It was influenced in sense by Old French brac, a form of bras "an arm," thus the sense "a lever or handle," which was being used in English from late 14c., and "a bridle or curb" (early 15c.).
One or the other sense or a convergence of all of them yielded the main modern meaning "mechanical device for arresting the motion of a wheel," which is attested by 1772.brake (n.2)kind of fern, early 14c.; see bracken.brake (v.)"to apply a brake to a wheel," 1868, from brake (n.1). Earlier, "to beat flax" (late 14c.). Related: Braked; braking.brake (n.3)"thicket; place overgrown with bushes, brambles, or brushwood," mid-15c., originally "fern-brake, thicket of fern," perhaps from or related to Middle Low German brake "rough or broken ground," from the root of break (v.). Or, more likely, from Middle English brake "fern" (c. 1300), from Old Norse (compare Swedish bräken, Danish bregne), and related to bracken. In the U.S., applied to cane thickets.Branwen fem. proper name, from Welsh bran "raven" + (g)wen "fair" (literally "visible," from nasalized form of PIE root *weid- "to see"). Daughter of Llyr, she was a legendary heroine of Wales.brash (adj.)"impetuous, rash, hasty in temper," 1824, of obscure origin, perhaps originally American English; perhaps akin to 16c. Scottish brash "attack, assault," or French breche "fragments," especially of ice, which is from a Germanic source (compare Old High German brehha "breach," from brehhan "to break," from PIE root *bhreg- "to break"). Or perhaps akin to German brechen "to vomit." Not considered to be connected with rash (adj.) though they mean the same. Related: Rashly; rashness.bratwurst (n.)type of sausage, 1904, from German Bratwurst, from wurst + Brät "lean meat, finely chipped calf or swine meat," from Old High German brato (12c.), from Proto-Germanic *bred-on- "roast flesh" (source also of Old English bræd "meat, flesh;" compare brawn), from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn." German folk etymology derives Brät from braten "to roast, bake, broil, grill;" more likely both are from the same ancient source.brawn (n.)late 13c., "boar's flesh;" early 14c., "flesh of a muscular part of the body," from Old French braon "fleshy or muscular part, buttock," from Frankish *brado "ham, roast" or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *bred-on- (source also of Old High German brato "tender meat," German Braten "roast," Old Norse brað "raw meat," Old English bræd "flesh"), from PIE *bhre- "burn, heat," from root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn."
The etymological sense is "piece of meat suitable for roasting." "The specific sense 'boar's flesh' is exclusively of English development, and characteristic of English habits" [OED]. Meaning "well-developed muscles, muscular strength" is from 1865.brawny (adj.)1590s, "bulky and strong, characterized by muscle," from brawn + -y (2). Related: Brawniness.braze (v.2)"to make of or cover in brass," Old English brasian "to do work in brass, make of brass," from bræs (see brass (n.)). Compare glaze from glass.braze (v.1)1580s, "to expose to the action of fire" perhaps (but the sense evolution is odd) from French braser "to solder," in Old French, "to burn," related to brese "embers," ultimately from West Germanic *brasa, from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn." Related: Brazed; brazing. Sense of "to solder" is attested in English from 1670s.brazier (n.)"metal container to hold live coals," 1680s, from French brasier "pan of hot coals," from Old French brasier, from brese "embers," ultimately from West Germanic *brasa (compare braze (v.1)), from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn."Brazil early 14c., brasile, "brasilwood," name of a type of red wood from an East Indian tree, used in making dye (in modern times known as sappan-wood or Indian redwood), from Medieval Latin brasilium, Old French bresil, which probably is related to brese "embers," and like it from a Germanic source (compare braze (v.1)), from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn," and so called for resemblance of color to a glowing ember. But as the product came to Europe via India perhaps this is a folk-etymology of some word in Arabic or another Asian language (an Old Italian form, verzino, suggests to some a possible connection with Arabic wars "saffron").
The same word for the same stuff entered Portuguese and Spanish (brasil) and Italian (brasile). The South American country was named Santa Cruz by its "discoverer," Pedro Alvarez Cabral (1500), but within a decade on maps it began to be called terra de brasil "red-dyewood land" because it produced a valuable red dyewood similar to East Indian type, and that name predominated from 1550s.
Complicating matters is Hy Brasil, a name attested since early 14c. for a legendary island or rock in the North Atlantic off the west coast of Ireland. It is so-called perhaps from the "red dyewood" word by association with Pliny's Insulae Purpurariae ("Purple Islands") in the Atlantic off the coast of Morocco.breach (v.)"make a breach or opening in," 1570s, from breach (n.). Related: Breached; breaching. breach (n.)Old English bryce "a fracture, act of breaking," from brecan "to shatter, burst; injure, violate, destroy, curtail" (see break (v.)), influenced by Old French breche "breach, opening, gap," from Frankish; both from Proto-Germanic *brecho, *bræko "broken," from PIE root *bhreg- "to break."
Figurative sense of "infraction, violation, a breaking of rules, etc." was in Old English. Meaning "opening made by breaking" is from late 14c. Meaning "rupture of friendly relations" is from 1570s. Breach of contract is from at least 1660s; breach of peace "violation of public order" is from 1670s; breach of promise (usually promise of marriage) is from 1580s.bread (n.)"kind of food made from flour or the meal of some grain, kneaded into a dough, fermented, and baked," Old English bread "bit, crumb, morsel; bread," cognate with Old Norse brauð, Danish brød, Old Frisian brad, Middle Dutch brot, Dutch brood, German Brot. According to one theory [Watkins, etc.] from Proto-Germanic *brautham, from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn," in reference to the leavening.
But OED argues at some length for the basic sense being not "cooked food" but "piece of food," and the Old English word deriving from a Proto-Germanic *braudsmon- "fragments, bits" (cognate with Old High German brosma "crumb," Old English breotan "to break in pieces") and being related to the root of break (v.). It cites Slovenian kruh "bread," literally "a piece."
Either way, by c. 1200 it had replaced the usual Old English word for "bread," which was hlaf (see loaf (n.)).
Extended sense of "food, sustenance in general" (late 12c.) is perhaps via the Lord's Prayer. Slang meaning "money" dates from 1940s, but compare breadwinner, and bread as "one's livelihood" dates to 1719. Bread and circuses (1914) is from Latin, in reference to food and entertainment provided by the government to keep the populace content. "Duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et circenses" [Juvenal, Sat. x.80].bread (v.)"to dress with bread crumbs," 1620s, from bread (n.). Related: Breaded; breading.break (n.)c. 1300, "act of breaking, forcible disruption or separation," from break (v.). Sense in break of day "first appearance of light in the morning" is from 1580s; meaning "sudden, marked transition from one course, place, or state to another" is by 1725. Sense of "short interval between spells of work" (originally between lessons at school) is from 1861. Meaning "stroke of luck" is attested by 1911, probably an image from billiards (where the break that scatters the ordered balls and starts the game is attested from 1865). Meaning "stroke of mercy" is from 1914. Jazz musical sense of "improvised passage, solo" is from 1920s. Broadcasting sense is by 1941.break (v.)Old English brecan "to divide solid matter violently into parts or fragments; to injure, violate (a promise, etc.), destroy, curtail; to break into, rush into; to burst forth, spring out; to subdue, tame" (class IV strong verb; past tense bræc, past participle brocen), from Proto-Germanic *brekan (source also of Old Frisian breka, Dutch breken, Old High German brehhan, German brechen, Gothic brikan), from PIE root *bhreg- "to break."
Closely related to breach (n.), brake (n.1), brick (n.). The old past tense brake is obsolete or archaic; past pariticiple is broken, but shortened form broke is attested from 14c. and was "exceedingly common" [OED] 17c.-18c.
Of bones in Old English. Formerly also of cloth, paper, etc. Meaning "escape by breaking an enclosure" is from late 14c. Intransitive sense "be or become separated into fragments or parts under action of some force" is from late 12c. Meaning "lessen, impair" is from late 15c. Meaning "make a first and partial disclosure" is from early 13c. Meaning "destroy continuity or completeness" in any way is from 1741. In reference to the heart from early 13c. (intransitive); to break (someone's) heart is late 14c.
Break bread "share food" (with) is from late 14c. To break ground is from 1670s as "to dig, plow," from 1709 in the figurative sense "begin to execute a plan." To break the ice "overcome the feeling of restraint in a new acquaintanceship" is from c. 1600, in reference to the "coldness" of encounters of strangers. Break wind first attested 1550s. To break (something) out (1890s) probably is an image from dock work, of freeing cargo before unloading it.
The ironic theatrical good luck formula break a leg (by 1948, said to be from at least 1920s) has parallels in German Hals- und Beinbruch "break your neck and leg," and Italian in bocca al lupo. Evidence of a highly superstitious craft (see Macbeth). According to Farmer & Henley, in 17c. the expression was used euphemistically, of a woman, "to have a bastard."breccia (n.)"conglomerate rock of angular pieces," 1774, from Italian breccia, "marble of angular pieces," from a Germanic source akin to Old High German brecha "a breaking," from Proto-Germanic *brekan, from PIE root *bhreg- "to break." The same Germanic root is the source of Spanish brecha, French brèche "a breach."breeches (n.)"bifurcated garment worn by men, covering the body and waist to the knees," c. 1200, a double plural (also breechen, and singular breech), from Old English brec "breeches," which already was plural of broc "garment for the legs and trunk," from Proto-Germanic *brokiz (source also of Old Norse brok, Dutch broek, Danish brog, Old High German bruoh, German Bruch, obsolete since 18c. except in Swiss dialect), perhaps from PIE root *bhreg- "to break." The etymological notion would be of a garment "forked" or "split." The singular breech survived into 17c., but the word is now always used in the plural.
The Proto-Germanic word is a parallel form to Celtic *bracca, source (via Gaulish) of Latin braca (source of French braies, Italian braca, Spanish braga). Some propose that the Germanic word group is borrowed from Gallo-Latin, others that the Celtic was from Germanic, but OED writes that the Proto-Germanic noun "has all the markings of an original Teutonic word."
Classical bracae were part of the characteristic garb of Gauls and Orientals; they were not worn by Greeks or Romans until the end of the republic. After 1 c. they came into use at first among military forces stationed in cold climates and were adopted generally toward the end of the empire, though they never seem to have been much in favor in Rome proper.
Expanded sense of "lower part of the body, part of the body covered by breeches, posterior" led to senses in childbirthing (1670s) and gunnery ("the part of a firearm behind the bore," 1570s). As the popular word for "trousers" in English, displaced in U.S. c. 1840 by pants. The Breeches Bible (Geneva Bible of 1560) so called on account of rendition of Genesis iii.7 (already in Wyclif) "They sewed figge leaues together, and made themselues breeches."breed (v.)Old English bredan "bring (young) to birth, procreate," also "cherish, keep warm," from West Germanic *brodjan (source also of Old High German bruoten, German brüten "to brood, hatch"), from *brod- "fetus, hatchling," from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn." The etymological notion is incubation, warming to hatch.
Intransitive sense "come into being" is from c. 1200; that of "beget or bear offspring" is from mid-13c. Of livestock, etc., "procure by the mating of parents and rear for use," mid-14c. Sense of "grow up, be reared" (in a clan, etc.) is late 14c.; meaning "form by education" is from mid-15c. Related: Bred; breeding.breed (n.)"race, lineage, stock from the same parentage" (originally of animals), 1550s, from breed (v.). Of persons, from 1590s. Meaning "kind, species" is from 1580s.brew (v.)"produce (a beverage) by fermentation; prepare by mixing and boiling," Old English breowan (class II strong verb, past tense breaw, past participle browen), from Proto-Germanic *breuwan "to brew" (source also of Old Norse brugga, Old Frisian briuwa, Middle Dutch brouwen, Old High German briuwan, German brauen "to brew"), from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn;" the etymological sense thus being "make (a drink) by boiling." Intransitive, figurative sense of "be in preparation" (of trouble, etc.) is from c. 1300. Related: Brewed; brewing.brew (n.)"a brewed beverage, that which is brewed," c. 1500, from brew (v.).bride (n.)"woman newly married or about to be," Old English bryd "bride, betrothed or newly married woman," from Proto-Germanic *bruthiz "woman being married" (source also of Old Frisian breid, Dutch bruid, Old High German brut, German Braut "bride"), a word of uncertain origin.
Gothic cognate bruþs, however, meant "daughter-in-law," and the form of the word borrowed from Old High German into Medieval Latin (bruta) and Old French (bruy) had only this sense. In ancient Indo-European custom, the married woman went to live with her husband's family, so the only "newly wed female" in such a household would have been the daughter-in-law. On the same notion, some trace the word itself to the PIE verbal root *bhreu-, which forms words for cooking and brewing, as this likely was the daughter-in-law's job.bridegroom (n.)"man newly married or about to be," Old English brydguma "suitor," from bryd "bride" (see bride) + guma "man," from Proto-Germanic *gumon- (source also of Old Norse gumi, Old High German gomo), literally "earthling, earthly being," as opposed to the gods, from suffixed form of PIE root *dhghem- "earth." Ending altered 16c. by folk etymology after groom (n.) "groom, boy, lad" (q.v.).
A common Germanic compound (compare Old Saxon brudigumo, Old Norse bruðgumi, Old High German brutigomo, German Bräutigam), except in Gothic, which used bruþsfaþs, literally "bride's lord."bridge (n.2)card game, 1886 (perhaps as early as 1843), an alteration of biritch, but the source and meaning of that are obscure. "Probably of Levantine origin, since some form of the game appears to have been long known in the Near East" [OED]. One guess is that it represents Turkish *bir-üç "one-three," because one hand is exposed and three are concealed. The game also was known early as Russian whist (attested in English from 1839).bridge (n.1)"any structure that affords passage over a ravine or river," Old English brycge, from Proto-Germanic *brugjo (source also of Old Saxon bruggia, Old Norse bryggja, Old Frisian brigge, Dutch brug, Old High German brucca, German Brücke), from PIE root *bhru "log, beam," hence "wooden causeway" (source also of Gaulish briva "bridge," Old Church Slavonic bruvuno "beam," Serbian brv "footbridge").
The original notion is of a beam or log. Compare Old Church Slavonic mostu, Serbo-Croatian most "bridge," probably originally "beam" and a loanword from Germanic, related to English mast (n.1). For vowel evolution, see bury. Meaning "bony upper part of the nose" is from early 15c.; of stringed instruments from late 14c. The bridge of a ship (by 1843) originally was a "narrow raised platform athwart the ship whence the Captain issues his orders" [Sir Geoffrey Callender, "Sea Passages"].
Bridge in steam-vessels is the connection between the paddle-boxes, from which the officer in charge directs the motion of the vessel. [Smyth, "The Sailor's Word-book," 1867]
Bridget fem. proper name, from Irish Brighid, goddess associated with fire, spring, fertility, healing, poetry and smithcraft, from brigh "strength," from Celtic *brig-o-, from PIE *bhrgh-nt- "high, mighty," from root *bhergh- (2) "high."
brig (n.)"two-masted square-rigged vessel," 1720, colloquial shortening of brigantine (q.v.). Meaning "a ship's jail" is by 1841, American English, perhaps from the use of such vessels as prison ships upon retirement from active duty.brigade (n.)subdivision of an army, 1630s, from French brigade "body of soldiers" (14c.), from Italian brigata "troop, crowd, gang," from brigare "to brawl, fight," from briga "strife, quarrel," perhaps of Celtic (compare Gaelic brigh, Welsh bri "power"), from PIE root *gwere- (1) "heavy." Or perhaps from Germanic.
brigand (n.)c. 1400, also brigaunt, "lightly armed irregular foot-soldier," from Old French brigand (14c.), from Italian brigante "trooper, skirmisher, foot soldier," from brigare "to brawl, fight" (see brigade). Sense of "robber, freebooter, one who lives by pillaging" is earlier in English (late 14c.), reflecting the lack of distinction between professional mercenary armies and armed, organized criminals.brigantine (n.)"small two-masted ship," 1520s, from Middle French brigandin (15c.), from Italian brigantino, perhaps "skirmishing vessel, pirate ship," from brigante "skirmisher, pirate, brigand" from brigare "to fight" (see brigade and compare brigand).bright (adj.)"radiating or reflecting light," Old English bryht, metathesis of beorht "bright; splendid; clear-sounding; beautiful; divine," from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz "bright" (source also of Old Saxon berht, Old Norse bjartr, Old High German beraht, Gothic bairhts "bright"), from PIE root *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white." Meaning "quick-witted, having brilliant mental qualities" is from 1741.
The Germanic word was commonly used to form given names, and figures in the etymology of Robert, Albert, Bertha, Egbert, Gilbert, Herbert, Hubert, Lambert. In modern German it survives in names only (Albrecht, Ruprecht) and has been otherwise lost.bring (v.)Old English bringan "to bear, convey, take along in coming; bring forth, produce, present, offer" (past tense brohte, past participle broht), from Proto-Germanic *brengan (source also of Old Frisian brenga, Middle Dutch brenghen, Old High German bringan, German bringen, Gothic briggan). There are no exact cognates outside Germanic, but it appears to be from PIE *bhrengk-, based on root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children."
The tendency to conjugate this as a strong verb on the model of sing, drink, etc., is ancient: Old English also had a rare strong past participle form, brungen, corresponding to modern colloquial brung.
To bring about "effect, accomplish" is from late 14c. To bring down is from c. 1300 as "cause to fall," 1530s as "humiliate," 1590s as "to reduce, lessen." To bring down the house figuratively (1754) is to elicit applause so thunderous it collapses the theater roof. To bring forth "produce," as young or fruit is from c. 1200. To bring up is from late 14c. as "to rear, nurture;" 1875 as "introduce to consideration." To bring up the rear "move onward at the rear" is by 1708.brink (n.)"edge or border of a steep place," early 13c., from Middle Low German brink "edge," or from a Scandinavian source akin to Danish brink "steepness, shore, bank, grassy edge," from Proto-Germanic *brenkon, probably from PIE *bhreng-, variant of *bhren- "to project; edge" (source also of Lithuanian brinkti "to swell").brio (n.)"liveliness, vivacity," 1734, from Italian brio "mettle, fire, life," perhaps a shortened derivative of Latin ebrius "drunk." Or via Provençal briu "vigor," from Celtic *brig-o- "strength," from PIE root *gwere- (1) "heavy." Probably it entered English via the musical instruction con brio.
brioche (n.)enriched type of French bread, 1824, from French brioche (15c.), from brier "to knead the dough," Norman form of broyer "to grind, pound," from Proto-Germanic *brekan "to break" (from PIE root *bhreg- "to break"). By 1840 as "round or stuffed cushion for the feet to rest on."broil (n.2)"a confused disturbance, quarrel," 1520s, from broil (v.2).broil (v.2)early 15c., "to quarrel, brawl," also "mix up, present in disorder," from Anglo-French broiller "mix up, confuse," Old French brooillier "to mix, mingle," figuratively "to have sexual intercourse" (13c., Modern French brouiller), perhaps from breu, bro "stock, broth, brew," from Frankish or another Germanic source (compare Old High German brod "broth"), from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn." Compare Italian brogliare "to stir, disorder" (see imbroglio).broil (v.1)"to cook (meat) by direct action of heat," late 14c. (earlier "to burn," mid-14c.), from Old French bruller "to broil, roast" (Modern French brûler), earlier brusler "to burn" (11c.), which, with Italian bruciare, is of uncertain and much-disputed origin.
Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *brodum "broth," borrowed from Germanic and ultimately related to brew (v.). Gamillscheg proposes it to be from Latin ustulare "to scorch, singe" (from ustus, past participle of urere "to burn") and altered by influence of Germanic "burn" words beginning in br-. From 1610 as "to be very hot." Related: Broiled; broiling.broil (n.1)"broiled meat," 1822, from broil (v.1).bronchiectasis (n.)"dilation of the bronchial tubes," 1848, earlier in German, coined in Modern Latin from Greek bronkhia "the bronchial tubes" (see bronchia) + ektasis "a stretching out, extension, dilation," from ek (see ex-) + tasis "a stretching, tension, intensity" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch").brontothere (n.)extinct genus of gigantic mammals, 1877, Modern Latin, from Greek bronte "thunder" (probably imitative) + Greek therion "beast" (from PIE root *ghwer- "wild beast").bronze (n.)1721, "alloy of copper and (usually) a smaller amount of tin," from French bronze, from Italian bronzo, from Medieval Latin bronzium, which is of uncertain origin. Perhaps cognate (via notion of color) with Venetian bronza "glowing coals," or German brunst "fire." Perhaps influenced by Latin Brundisium the Italian town of Brindisi (Pliny writes of aes Brundusinum). Perhaps ultimately from Persian birinj "copper."
In Middle English, the distinction between bronze (copper-tin alloy) and brass (copper-zinc alloy) was not clear, and both were called bras (see brass (n.)). Used historically for bells, cannons, statuary, and fine mechanical works. Also from French are Dutch brons, German Bronze, etc., and ultimately from the Medieval Latin word are Spanish bronce, Russian bronza, Polish bronc, Albanian brunze, etc.
A bronze medal was given to a third-place finisher at least since 1852. The archaeological Bronze Age (1850) falls between the Stone and Iron ages, and is a reference to the principal material for making weapons and ornaments.brood (n.)Old English brod "offspring of egg-laying animals, hatchlings, young birds hatched in one nest," from Proto-Germanic *brod (source also of Middle Dutch broet, Old High German bruot, German Brut "brood"), etymologically "that which is hatched by heat," from *bro- "to warm, heat," from PIE *bhre- "burn, heat, incubate," from root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn." Meaning "human offspring, children of one family" is from c. 1300.brood (v.)mid-15c., "sit on eggs for the purpose of hatching them," from brood (n.). The figurative meaning "meditate long and anxiously" (to "incubate in the mind") is first recorded 1570s, from notion of "nursing" one's anger, resentment, etc. Related: Brooded; brooding. Brood mare "female horse kept for breeding" is from 1829.broth (n.)"liquid in which flesh is boiled," Old English broþ, from Proto-Germanic *bruthan (source also of Old High German *brod, Old Norse broð), from verb root *bhreue- "to heat, boil, bubble;" also "liquid in which something has been boiled" (from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn"). Picked up from Germanic by the Romanic and Celtic languages (Italian brodo, Spanish brodio, Old French breu, Irish broth, Gaelic brot).
The Irishism broth of a boy, which is in Byron, was "thought to originate from the Irish Broth, passion -- Brotha passionate, spirited ..." [Farmer], and if so is not immediately related, but rather, with Scottish braith, from Middle English bratthe "violence, impetuosity; anger, rage" (c. 1200), which is from Old Norse braðr "sudden, hasty," from brað "haste."brother (n.)Old English broþor, from Proto-Germanic *brothar (source also of Old Norse broðir, Danish broder, Old Frisian brother, Dutch broeder, Old High German bruodar, German Bruder, Gothic bróþar), from PIE root *bhrater-.
A stable word across the Indo-European languages (Sanskrit bhrátár-, Greek phratér, Latin frater, etc.). Hungarian barát is from Slavic; Turkish birader is from Persian.
In the few cases where other words provide the sense, it is where the cognate of brother had been applied widely to "member of a fraternity," or as an appellation of a monk (Italian fra, Portuguese frade, Old French frere), or where there was need to distinguish "son of the same mother" from "son of the same father." For example Greek adelphos, which probably originally was an adjective with phrater and meant, specifically, "brother of the womb" or "brother by blood," and became the main word as phrater became "one of the same tribe." Spanish hermano "brother" is from Latin germanus "full brother" (on both the father's and mother's side); Middle English also had brother-german in this sense.
Meaning "male person in relation to any other person of the same ancestry" in English is from late 14c. Sense of "member of a mendicant order" is from c. 1500. As a familiar term of address from one man to another, it is attested from 1912 in U.S. slang; the specific use among blacks is recorded from 1973.
brow (n.)c. 1300, broue, plural broues, brouen, "arch of hair over the eye," also extended to the prominent ridge over the eye (early 14c.), from Old English bru (plural brua), which probably originally meant "eyebrow" (but also was used in the sense of "eyelash"), from Proto-Germanic *brus- "eyebrow" (source also of Old Norse brun), from PIE *bhru- "eyebrow" (source also of Sanskrit bhrus "eyebrow," Greek ophrys, Old Church Slavonic bruvi, Lithuanian bruvis "brow," Old Irish bru "edge"). The -n- in the Old Norse (brun) and German (braune) forms of the word are from a genitive plural inflection.
Sense extended by c. 1200 to "the forehead," especially with reference to movements and expressions that showed emotion or attitude, hence "general expression of the face" (1590s). From c. 1400 as "the slope of a steep place."
Words for "eyelid," "eyelash," and "eyebrow" changed about maddeningly in Old and Middle English (and in all the West Germanic languages). The extension of Old English bru to "eyelash," and later "eyelid" presumably was by association of the hair of the eyebrow with the hair of the eyelid. The eyebrows then became Old English oferbrua "overbrows" (early Middle English uvere breyhes or briges aboue þe eiges). The general word for "eyebrow" in Middle English was brew, breowen (c. 1200), from Old English bræw (West Saxon), *brew (Anglian), from Proto-Germanic *bræwi- "blinker, twinkler" (source also of Old Frisian bre, Old Saxon brawa, Middle Dutch brauwe "eyelid," Old High German brawa "eyebrow," Old Norse bra "eyebrow," Gothic brahw "twinkle, blink," in phrase in brahwa augins "in the twinkling of an eye").brown (n.)c. 1300, "a brown thing or part of a thing;" c. 1600, "brown color;" from brown (adj.).brown (v.)c. 1300, "to become brown," from brown (adj.). From 1560s as "to make brown." Related: Browned; browning.brown (adj.)Old English brun "dark, dusky," developing a definite color sense only 13c., from Proto-Germanic *brunaz (source also of Old Norse brunn, Danish brun, Old Frisian and Old High German brun, Dutch bruin, German braun), from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown."
The Old English word also had a sense of "brightness, shining," preserved only in burnish. The Germanic word was adopted into Romanic (Middle Latin brunus, Italian and Spanish bruno, French brun). Brown sugar is from 1704. Brown Bess, slang name for old British Army flintlock musket, is first recorded 1785. Brown study "state of mental abstraction or meditation" is from 1530s; OED says the notion is "gloomy." Brown-paper "kind of coarse, stout, unbleached paper used for wrapping" is from 1650s.
Bruin (n.)proper name for a bear, late 15c., from Middle Dutch Bruin, name of the bear in "Reynard the Fox" fables; literally "brown;" cognate with English brown, German Braun (from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown;" and compare bear (n.)).
brunet (n.)"dark-complexioned person," generally male, 1890; from the adjective (1887), from French brunet, diminutive of brun "brown," which is from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *brunaz (source also of English brown; from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown").
brunette (adj.)of a woman, "dark in complexion, having a brownish tone to the skin and hair," 1660s, from French brunette, fem. of brunet, from Old French brunet "brownish, brown-haired, dark-complexioned," fem. diminutive of brun "brown" (12c.), of West Germanic origin, from Proto-Germanic *brunaz (from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown").
As a noun, "woman with dark hair and eyes and of a dark complexion," from 1710. The metathesized form, Old French burnete, is the source of the surname Burnett. Burnete also was used of a wool-dyed cloth of superior quality, originally dark brown.
Brunswick "town and former imperial province of northern Germany, an Anglicization of GermanBraunschweig, literally "Bruno's settlement," from Bruno + Old Saxon wik "village," which is from Latin (see wick (n.2)). Traditionally founded c. 861 and named for Bruno son of Duke Ludolf of Saxony.Brussels capital of old Brabant and modern Belgium, a name of Germanic origin, from brocca "marsh" + sali "room, building," from Latin cella (see cell). It arose 6c. as a fortress on an island in a river. As a type of carpet, from 1799; as a type of lace, from 1748.
Brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea gemmifera) is attested from 1748 (the first written description of them is from 1580s); they have long been associated with Flanders and especially Brussels (compare the French name, choux de Bruxelles).
brut (adj.)1891, of wines, especially champagnes, "dry, unsweetened," from French brut (14c.), literally "raw, crude" (see brute (adj.)).brute (n.)1610s, "a beast" (as distinguished from a man), especially one of the higher quadrupeds, from brute (adj.). From 1660s as "a brutal person, a savage in disposition or manners."brute (adj.)early 15c., "of or belonging to animals, non-human," from Old French brut "coarse, brutal, raw, crude," from Latin brutus "heavy, dull, stupid, insensible, unreasonable" (source also of Spanish and Italian bruto), said to be an Oscan word, from PIE *gwruto-, suffixed form of root *gwere- (1) "heavy." Before reaching English the meaning expanded to "of the lower animals." Used in English of human beings from 1530s, "wanting in reason, blunt or dull of sentiment, unintelligent." The sense in brute force (1736) is "irrational, purely material."
Brute ... remains nearest to the distinguishing difference between man and beast, irrationality .... Brutish is especially uncultured, stupid, groveling .... Brutal implies cruelty or lack of feeling: as brutal language or conduct. [Century Dictionary]
Bryozoa (n.)lowest class of mollusks, 1837, from bryo- "moss" + -zoa "animal," from Greek zoia, plural of zoion "animal" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live"). So called from the appearance of some species.Bucephalus Alexander the Great's favorite horse, from Greek Boukephalos, literally "Ox-head," from bous "ox" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + kephale "head" (see cephalo-).
Men called [him] Bucephalus ... of the marke or brand of a buls head, which was imprinted vpon his shoulder. [Pliny, I.220, tr. Holland, 1601]
bucolic (adj.)"pastoral, relating to country life or the affairs and occupations of a shepherd," 1610s, earlier bucolical (1520s), from Latin bucolicus, from Greek boukolikos "pastoral, rustic," from boukolos "cowherd, herdsman," from bous "cow" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + -kolos "tending," related to Latin colere "to till (the ground), cultivate, dwell, inhabit" (from PIE root *kwel- (1) "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell"). Middle Irish búachaill, Welsh bugail "shepherd" are Celtic words formed from the same root material as Greek boukolos.Budapest Hungarian capital, formed 1872 from merger of two cities on opposite shores of the Danube, Buda (probably from a word originally meaning "water") + Pest, a Hungarian word meaning "furnace, oven, cove," also in Slavic (compare Russian pech'). Ofen, literally "oven," was the old German name for the place.Buddha (n.)an epithet applied to the historical founder of Buddhism, 1680s, from Pali, literally "awakened, enlightened," past participle of budh "to awake, know, perceive," which is related to Sanskrit bodhati "is awake, observes, understands," from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware." Title given by his adherents to the man who taught this path, Siddhartha Gautama, also known to them as Sakyamuni "Sage of the Sakyas" (his family clan), who lived in northern India 5c. B.C.E.budget (n.)early 15c., bouget, "leather pouch, small bag or sack," from Middle French bougette, diminutive of Old French bouge "leather bag, wallet, pouch," from Latin bulga "leather bag," a word of Gaulish origin (compare Old Irish bolg "bag," Breton bolc'h "flax pod"), from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."
The modern financial meaning "statement of probable expenditures and revenues" (1733) is from the notion of the treasury minister keeping his fiscal plans in a wallet. Also used from late 16c. in a general sense of "a stock, store, or collection of miscellaneous items," which led to 18c. transferred sense "bundle of news," hence the use of the word as the title of some newspapers.budget (v.)"to include in a (fiscal) budget," 1884, from budget (n.). Related: Budgeted; budgeting.buffalo (v.)"alarm, overawe," 1900, from buffalo (n.). Probably from the animals' tendency to mass panic. Related: Buffaloed; buffaloing.buffalo (n.)1580s (earlier buffel, 1510s, from Middle French), from Portuguese bufalo "water buffalo," from Medieval Latin bufalus, variant of Latin bubalus "wild ox," from Greek boubalos "buffalo," originally the name of a kind of African antelope, later used of a type of domesticated ox in southern Asia and the Mediterranean lands, a word of uncertain origin. It appears to contain bous "ox, cow" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"), but this is perhaps a folk-etymology association.
Wrongly applied since 1630s to the American bison. The other Germanic words (Dutch buffel, German Büffel, Danish böffel, etc.) are from French; from Medieval Latin come Russian buivolu, Polish bujwoł, Bulgarian bivol, etc. Buffalo gnat is recorded from 1822. Buffalo chip "dung of the American bison," used for fuel on the U.S. plains, is from 1840.Bufo (n.)toad genus, from Latin bufo "a toad," an Osco-Umbrian loan-word, perhaps from PIE *gwebh-, a root denoting sliminess and also forming words for "frog" (source also of Old Prussian gabawo "toad," Old Church Slavonic žaba "frog," Middle Low German kwappe "tadpole," German Quappe).bugle (v.)"sound a bugle," 1852, from bugle (n.). Related: Bugled; bugling (1847). Also compare bugler.bugle (n.2)"glass bead used to ornament dress," 1570s, of unknown origin.bugle (n.1)"brass musical instrument," mid-14c., abbreviation of buglehorn "musical horn, hunting horn" (c. 1300), from Old French bugle "(musical) horn," also "wild ox, buffalo," from Latin buculus "heifer, young ox," diminutive of bos "ox, cow" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"). Middle English also had the word in the "buffalo" sense and it survived in dialect with meaning "young bull." Modern French bugle is a 19c. borrowing from English.bugloss (n.)popular name of several small plants, 1530s, from French buglosse, from Latin buglossa, from Greek bouglossos, literally "ox-tongued," from bous "ox" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + glossa "tongue" (see gloss (n.2)) . So called from the shape and texture of its leaves.build (v.)Middle English bilden, from late Old English byldan "construct a house," verb form of bold "house," from Proto-Germanic *buthla- (source also of Old Saxon bodl, Old Frisian bodel "building, house"), from PIE *bhu- "to dwell," from root*bheue- "to be, exist, grow." Rare in Old English; in Middle English it won out over more common Old English timbran (see timber). Modern spelling is unexplained. Figurative use from mid-15c. Of physical things other than buildings from late 16c. Related: Builded (archaic); built; building.
In the United States, this verb is used with much more latitude than in England. There, as Fennimore Cooper puts it, everything is BUILT. The priest BUILDS up a flock; the speculator a fortune; the lawyer a reputation; the landlord a town; and the tailor, as in England, BUILDS up a suit of clothes. A fire is BUILT instead of made, and the expression is even extended to individuals, to be BUILT being used with the meaning of formed. [Farmer, "Slang and Its Analogues," 1890]
build (n.)"style of construction," 1660s, from build (v.). Earlier in this sense was built (1610s). Meaning "physical construction and fitness of a person" attested by 1981. Earliest sense, now obsolete, was "a building" (early 14c.).bulge (n.)c. 1200, "a wallet, leather bag," from Old French bouge, boulge "wallet, pouch, leather bag," or directly from Latin bulga "leather sack," from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Sense of "a swelling, a rounded protuberance" is first recorded 1620s. Bilge (q.v.) might be a nautical variant. Meaning "bulging part of a military front" is from 1916.
bulge (v.)"to protrude, swell out," 1670s, from bulge (n.). Related: Bulged; bulging. bulimia (n.)"emotional disorder consisting of food-gorging alternating with purging or fasting, accompanied by morbid concern with body weight and shape," 1976, Modern Latin, from Greek boulimia, "ravenous hunger" as a disease, literally "ox-hunger," from bou-, intensive prefix (originally from bous "ox;" from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + limos "hunger," from PIE *leie- "to waste away."
As a psychological disorder, technically bulemia nervosa. Englished form boulimy, bulimy was used from late 14c. in a medical sense of "morbidly ravishing hunger, disease causing the patient to have an insatiable hunger for food."bulk (n.)mid-15c., "a heap; the volume or bulk of something," earlier "ship's cargo" (mid-14c.), from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse bulki "a heap; ship's cargo," from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."
Meaning extended by early confusion with obsolete bouk "belly" (from Old English buc "body, belly," from Proto-Germanic *bukaz; see bucket), which led to sense of "size, volume, magnitude of material substance," attested from mid-15c. In bulk 1670s, "loaded loose." Meaning "the greater part" (of anything) is by 1711.bulk (v.)"swell, become more massive," 1550s (usually with up), from bulk (n.). Related: Bulked; bulking.bull (n.1)"male of a bovine animal," c. 1200, bule, from Old Norse boli "bull, male of the domestic bovine," perhaps also from an Old English *bula, both from Proto-Germanic *bullon- (source also of Middle Dutch bulle, Dutch bul, German Bulle), perhaps from a Germanic verbal stem meaning "to roar," which survives in some German dialects and perhaps in the first element of boulder (q.v.). The other possibility [Watkins] is that the Germanic word is from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."
An uncastrated male, reared for breeding, as opposed to a bullock or steer. Extended after 1610s to males of other large animals (elephant, alligator, whale, etc.). Stock market sense "one who seeks to cause a rise in the price of a stock" is from 1714 (compare bear (n.)). Meaning "policeman" attested by 1859. Bull-necked is from 1640s. Figurative phrase to take the bull by the horns "boldly face or grapple with some danger or difficulty" first recorded 1711 (Swift). To be a bull in a china shop, figurative of careless and inappropriately destructive use of force, attested from 1812 and was the title of a popular humorous song in 1820s England.bull (n.2)"papal edict, highest authoritative document issued by or in the name of a pope," c. 1300, from Medieval Latin bulla "sealed document" (source of Old French bulle, Italian bulla), originally the word for the seal itself, from Latin bulla "round swelling, knob," said ultimately to be from Gaulish, from PIE *beu-, a root supposed to have formed words associated with swelling (source also of Lithuanian bulė "buttocks," Middle Dutch puyl "bag," also possibly Latin bucca "cheek").
bull (n.3)"insincere, trifling, or deceptive talk," 1914. Popularly associated with roughly contemporary bullshit (n.) in the same sense, and in modern use often felt as a shortened form of it. There seems to have been an identical Middle English word meaning "false talk, fraud," apparently from Old French bole "deception, trick, scheming, intrigue," and perhaps related to modern Icelandic bull "nonsense."
Sais christ to ypocrites ... yee ar ... al ful wit wickednes, tresun, and bull. ["Cursor Mundi," Northumbrian, early 14c.]
There also was an early Modern English verb bull meaning "to mock, cheat," which dates from 1530s. Bull session is attested from 1920.
Also of uncertain connection with the bull that means "a gross inconsistency in language, a ludicrous blunder involving a contradiction in terms" (1630s), said by the English to be characteristic of the Irish, and thus often called an Irish bull. Sydney Smith defined it as "an apparent congruity, and real incongruity of ideas, suddenly discovered." Three examples attributed to Sir Boyle Roche: "Why should we do anything for posterity, for what, in the name of goodness, has posterity done for us?" ... "It would surely be better, Mr. Speaker, to give up not only a part, but, if necessary, even the whole of our Constitution, to preserve the remainder." ... "The best way to avoid danger is to meet it plump."bull (v.)"push through roughly," 1884, from bull (n.1). Related: Bulled; bulling.
bullock (n.)Old English bulluc "young bull, bull calf," from Proto-Germanic *bulluka-, from the stem of bull (n.1). Now always a castrated bull reared for beef.bully (n.)1530s, "sweetheart," a term of endearment applied to either sex, of uncertain origin; perhaps from Dutch boel "lover; brother," which probably is a diminutive of Middle Dutch broeder "brother" (compare Middle High German buole "brother," source of German Buhle "lover;" see brother (n.)).
Meaning deteriorated 17c. through "fine fellow" and "blusterer" to "harasser of the weak" (1680s, from bully-ruffian, 1650s). Perhaps this was by influence of bull (n.1), but a connecting sense between "lover" and "ruffian" might be "protector of a prostitute," which was one sense of bully (though it is not specifically attested until 1706). "Sweetheart" words often go bad in this way; compare leman, also ladybird, which in Farmer & Henley is "1. A whore; and (2) a term of endearment." Shakespeare has bully-rook "jolly comrade."
The adjective meaning "worthy, jolly, admirable" is first attested 1680s, and preserves an earlier, positive sense of the word. It enjoyed a popularity in late 19c. American English, and was used from 1864 in expressions, such as bully for you! "bravo!"bulwark (n.)early 15c., "a fortification outside a city wall or gate; a rampart, barricade," from Middle Dutch bulwerke or Middle High German bolwerc, probably [Skeat] from bole "plank, tree trunk" (from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell") + werc "work" (see work (n.)). Thus "bole-work," a construction of logs. Figurative sense "means of defense or security" is from mid-15c. A doublet of boulevard.bumpkin (n.)"awkward country fellow," 1560s, probably from Middle Dutch bommekijn "little barrel," diminutive of boom "tree" (see beam (n.)). Apparently, though itself Dutch, it began as a derogatory reference to Dutch people as short and dumpy. The Dutch word came into English in a more literal sense in 1630s as nautical bumkin "short boom projecting from each quarter of a vessel."bundle (n.)early 14c., "bound collection of things," from Middle Dutch bondel, diminutive of bond, from binden "to bind," or perhaps a merger of this word and Old English byndele "binding," from Proto-Germanic *bund- (source also of German bündel "to bundle"), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind." Meaning "a lot of money" is from 1899. To be a bundle of nerves "very anxious" is from 1938.buoy (n.)"float fixed in a place to indicate the position of objects underwater or to mark a channel," late 13c., boie, probably from Old French buie or Middle Dutch boeye, both of which likely are from Proto-Germanic *baukna- "beacon, signal" (see beacon). OED and Century Dictionary, however, suggest it is from Middle Dutch boeie or Old French boie "fetter, chain" (see boy), "because of its being fettered to a spot."buoy (v.)1590s, "to mark with a buoy," from buoy (n.). Meaning "keep something from sinking, keep afloat" is from 1650s, probably from the noun in the extended sense of "buoyant object thrown from a vessel to assist someone in the water stay afloat." It is attested earlier (1640s) in the figurative sense (of hopes, spirits, etc.). Related: Buoyed; buoying.
burden (n.1)"a load, that which is borne or carried," Old English byrðen "a load, weight, charge, duty;" also "a child;" from Proto-Germanic *burthinjo- "that which is borne" (source also of Old Norse byrðr, Old Saxon burthinnia, German bürde, Gothic baurþei), from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children."
The shift from -th- to -d- began early 12c. (compare murder (n.), rudder, afford). Archaic burthen is occasionally retained for the specific sense of "capacity of a ship." Beast of burden is from 1740. Burden of proof (Latin onus probandi) "obligation on one party in an action to establish an alleged fact by proof" is recorded from 1590s.burden (n.2)"leading idea, main topic," 1640s, a figurative use (on the notion of "subject often repeated") of the earlier sense "refrain or chorus of a song," 1590s, originally "bass accompaniment to music" (late 14c.), from Old French bordon (Modern French bourdon) "bumble-bee, drone," or directly from Medieval Latin burdonom "drone, drone bass" (source also of Spanish bordon, Portuguese bordão, Italian bordone), of echoic origin.burg (n.)"town, city," 1843, American English colloquial, from the many place names ending in -burg (see borough; also see -ville).burgess (n.)c. 1200, burgeis "citizen of a borough, inhabitant of a walled town," from Old French borjois (Modern French bourgeois), from Late Latin burgensis (see bourgeois). Applied from late 15c. to borough representatives in Parliament and used later in Virginia and Maryland to denote members of the legislative body, while in Pennsylvania and Connecticut it meant "member of the governing council of a local municipality."burgher (n.)1560s, "freeman of a burgh," from Middle Dutch burgher or German Bürger, from Middle High German burger, from Old High German burgari, literally "inhabitant of a fortress," from burg "fortress, citadel" (from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives referring to hills and hill-forts). Burgh, as a native variant of borough, persists in Scottish English (as in Edinburgh) and in Pittsburgh.
burglar (n.)"one who commits robbery by breaking into a house," 1540s, shortened from Anglo-Latin burglator (late 13c.), earlier burgator, from Medieval Latin burgator "burglar," from burgare "to break open, commit burglary," from Latin burgus "fortress, castle," a Germanic loan-word akin to borough.
The unetymological -l- is perhaps from influence of Latin latro "thief" (see larceny). Middle English had burgur (c. 1200), from Old French burgeor, burgur, also housbreker (c. 1400). Burglar-alarm is by 1840. Burgundy (n.)region, kingdom, duchy, and province in France, from Medieval Latin Burgundia, from Late Latin Burgundiones, literally "highlanders," from PIE *bhrgh-nt- "high, mighty," from root *bhergh- (2) "high." The Burgundians were a Germanic people, originally from what is now Sweden, who migrated and founded a kingdom west of the Rhine in 411. Their story is told in the 12c. Nibelungenlied. As "wine made in Burgundy," 1670s; as a color resembling that of the wine, 1881 (burgundy rose as a color is from 1872). Related: Burgundian.
burial (n.)"act of burying," late 13c.; earlier "tomb" (c. 1200), false singular from Old English byrgels "tomb," from byrgan "to bury" + suffix -els; a compound also found in Old Saxon burgisli, suggesting a Proto-Germanic *burgisli-, from PIE root *bhergh- (1) "to hide, protect." The Germanic suffix *-isli- (also in riddle (n.1), Old English hydels "hiding place," fætels "bag") became obsolete and was felt as a plural of the Latin-derived suffix -al (2) forming nouns of action from verbs (survival, approval, removal, etc.). In the "act of burying a dead person" sense it is now regarded as bury + -al. Burial-ground is from 1803.
burin (n.)engraver's tool, 1660s, from French burin, cognate with Italian bolino, Spanish buril, perhaps from Old High German bora "tool for boring" (from PIE root *bhorh- "hole"). Related: Burinist.burn (v.)early 12c., brennen, "be on fire, be consumed by fire; be inflamed with passion or desire, be ardent; destroy (something) with fire, expose to the action of fire, roast, broil, toast; burn (something) in cooking," of objects, "to shine, glitter, sparkle, glow like fire;" chiefly from Old Norse brenna "to burn, light," and also from two originally distinct Old English verbs: bærnan "to kindle" (transitive) and beornan "be on fire" (intransitive).
All these are from Proto-Germanic *brennan/*brannjan (source also of Middle Dutch bernen, Dutch branden, Old High German brinnan, German brennen, Gothic -brannjan "to set on fire"), from Proto-Germanic *brennan "to burn," from PIE root *gwher- "to heat, warm." Related: Burned/burnt (see -ed); burning.
Figurative use (of passions, battle, etc.) was in Old English. Meaning "be hot, radiate heat" is from late 13c. Meaning "produce a burning sensation, sting" is from late 14c. Meaning "cheat, swindle, victimize" is first attested 1650s. In late 18c, slang, burned meant "infected with venereal disease."
To burn one's bridges (behind one) "behave so as to destroy any chance of returning to a status quo" (attested by 1892 in Mark Twain), perhaps ultimately is from reckless cavalry raids in the American Civil War. Of money, to burn a hole in (one's) pocket "affect a person with a desire to spend" from 1850.
Slavic languages have historically used different and unrelated words for the transitive and intransitive senses of "set fire to"/"be on fire:" for example Polish palić/gorzeć, Russian žeč'/gorel.burnish (v.)early 14c., "to polish by friction," from Old French burniss- present participle stem of burnir, metathesis of brunir "to shine, gleam, sparkle" (trans.), also "to polish, make sparkle, make bright, shine," from brun "brown; polished," from Frankish or some other Germanic source (compare Old High German brun, Old Norse brunn "bright, polished; brown"), from Proto-Germanic *brunaz (from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown"). The connection to "brown" might be explained if the original objects in mind were wooden ones. Meaning "cause to glow, clean (something) until it shines" is from late 14c. Related: Burnished; burnishing.
bury (v.)Old English byrgan "to raise a mound, hide, enclose in a grave or tomb, inter," akin to beorgan "to shelter," from Proto-Germanic *burzjan- "protection, shelter" (source also of Old Saxon bergan, Dutch bergen, Old Norse bjarga, Swedish berga, Old High German bergan "protect, shelter, conceal," German bergen, Gothic bairgan "to save, preserve"), from PIE root *bhergh- (1) "to hide, protect." Meaning "cover, conceal from sight" is from 1711. Related: Buried; burying. Burying-ground "cemetery" attested from 1711. Buried treasure is from 1801.
The Old English -y- was a short "oo" sound, like modern French -u-. Under normal circumstances it transformed into Modern English -i- (in bridge, kiss, listen, sister, etc.), but in bury and a few other words (merry, knell) it retained a Kentish change to "e" that took place in the late Old English period. In the West Midlands, meanwhile, the Old English -y- sound persisted, slightly modified over time, giving the standard modern pronunciation of blush, much, church.
busk (v.)c. 1300, "to prepare, to dress oneself," also "to go, set out," probably from Old Norse buask "to prepare oneself," reflexive of bua "to prepare" (see bound (adj.2)) + contraction of Old Norse reflexive pronoun sik. Most common in northern Middle English and surviving chiefly in Scottish and northern English dialect. Related boun had the same senses in northern and Scottish Middle English. Related: Busked; busking.
The nautical term is attested from 1660s (in a general sense of "to tack, to beat to windward"), apparently from obsolete French busquer "to shift, filch, prowl," which is related to Italian buscare "to filch, prowl," Spanish buscar (from Old Spanish boscar), perhaps originally from bosco "wood" (see bush (n.)), with a hunting notion of "beating a wood" to flush game. For the "perform in public" sense, see busker.busk (n.)"strip of wood, whalebone, etc., used in corset-making," 1590s, probably from French busc (16c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps from or cognate with Italian bosco "splinter" and of Germanic origin (see bush (n.)).bustle (n.2)"padding in the upper back part of a skirt," 1788, of uncertain origin, perhaps from German Buschel "bunch, pad," or it might be a special use of bustle (n.1) with reference to "rustling motion."
BUSTLE. A pad stuffed with cotton, feathers, bran, &c., worn by ladies for the double purpose of giving a greater rotundity or prominence to the hips, and setting off the smallness of the waist. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
Century Dictionary (1895) notes that, in addition to "improving the figure" it causes the folds of the skirt to hang gracefully and prevents the skirt from interfering with the feet in walking.bustle (v.)"be active in a noisy and agitated way," 1570s (bustling "noisy or excited activity" is from early 15c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps a frequentative of Middle English bresten "to rush, break," from Old English bersten (see burst (v.)), influenced by Old Norse buask "to make oneself ready" (see busk (v.)). Or it might be from busk (v.) via a 16c. frequentative form buskle. Related: Bustled; bustling; bustler.bustle (n.1)"activity, stir, fuss, commotion," 1630s (Milton), from bustle (v.). but (adv., prep.)Old English butan, buton "unless; with the exception of; without, outside," from West Germanic *be-utan, a compound of *be- "by" (see by) + *utana "out, outside; from without," from ut "out" (see out (adv.)). Not used as a conjunction until late Old English, "on the contrary." Senses attested in early Middle English include "however, yet; no more than." As an introductory expression, early 13c. As a noun, "an objection, an exception" from late 14c.
Som man preiseth his neighebore by a wikked entente, foralwey he maketh a 'but' at the laste ende, that is digne of moore blame than worth is al the preisynge. [Chaucer, "Parson's Tale"]
butane (n.)paraffin hydrocarbon, 1875, from butyl, hydrocarbon from butyric acid, a product of fermentation found in rancid butter, from Latin butyrum (see butter (n.)) + chemical suffix -ane.butter (n.)Old English butere "butter, the fatty part of milk," obtained from cream by churning, general West Germanic (compare Old Frisian, Old High German butera, German Butter, Dutch boter), an early loan-word from Latin butyrum "butter" (source of Italian burro, Old French burre, French beurre), from Greek boutyron. This is apparently "cow-cheese," from bous "ox, cow" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow") + tyros "cheese" (from PIE root *teue- "to swell"); but this might be a folk etymology of a Scythian word.
The product was used from an early date in India, Iran and northern Europe, but not in ancient Greece and Rome. Herodotus described it (along with cannabis) among the oddities of the Scythians. In old chemistry, applied to certain substances of buttery consistency. Butter-knife attested from 1818.butter (v.)Old English buterian "spread butter on," from the same source as butter (n.). Figurative meaning "to flatter lavishly" is by 1798 (with up (adv.), in Connelly's Spanish-English dictionary, p.413). Related: Buttered; buttering. To know which side one's bread is buttered on is to be able to take care of oneself.butyl (n.)hydrocarbon radical, 1855, from butyric acid, a product of fermentation found in rancid butter, from Latin butyrum "butter" (see butter (n.)).butyric (adj.)"pertaining to or derived from butter," 1823, from stem of Latin butyrum "butter" (see butter (n.)) + -ic.by (prep., adv.)Old English be- (unstressed) or bi (stressed) "near, in, by, during, about," from Proto-Germanic *bi "around, about," in compounds often merely intensive (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian bi "by, near," Middle Dutch bie, Dutch bij, German bei "by, at, near," Gothic bi "about"), from PIE *bhi, reduced form of root *ambhi- "around."
As an adverb by c. 1300, "near, close at hand." OED (2nd ed. print) has 38 distinct definitions of it as a preposition. Originally an adverbial particle of place, which sense survives in place names (Whitby, Grimsby, etc., also compare rudesby). Elliptical use for "secondary course" was in Old English (opposed to main, as in byway, also compare by-blow "illegitimate child," 1590s, Middle English loteby "a concubine," from obsolete lote "to lurk, lie hidden"). This also is the sense of the second by in the phrase by the by (1610s). By the way literally means "along the way" (c. 1200), hence "in passing by," used figuratively to introduce a tangential observation ("incidentally") by 1540s.
To swear by something or someone is in Old English, perhaps originally "in the presence of." Phrase by and by (early 14c.) originally meant "one by one," with by apparently denoting succession; modern sense of "before long" is from 1520s. By and large "in all its length and breadth" (1660s) originally was nautical, "sailing to the wind and off it," hence "in one direction then another;" from nautical expression large wind, one that crosses the ship's line in a favorable direction.bylaw (n.)also by-law, late 13c., bilage "local ordinance," from Old Norse or Old Danish bi-lagu "town law," from byr "place where people dwell, town, village," from bua "to dwell" (from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow") + lagu "law" (see law). So, a local law pertaining to local residents, hence "a standing rule of a corporation or association for regulation of its organization and conduct." Sense influenced by by.byre (n.)"cow-shed, shelter for cattle," Old English byre, perhaps related to bur "cottage, dwelling, house" (see bower).