"B" Word Origins

ba

Origin

Borrowed from ancient Egyptian.

baa

German

An imitative word copying the sound sheep make, related to similar words in other languages like German bäh.

Baal

Hebrew

From Hebrew baal, meaning "lord, master, or owner", used as the name of the Canaanite god.

bab

Origin

A shortened form of "babby", itself a dialect variant of "baby".

baba

French

One of the earliest sounds babies make, adopted across many unrelated languages as a word for close family members like father or grandmother; the cake sense comes through French from Polish baba ("old woman").

babber

Origin

From bab (“to fish for eels using a bab (bundle of live worms)”) + -er (agent noun suffix); the further etymology of bab is uncertain.

babbitt

Origin · 1799

The metal is named after its American inventor, Isaac Babbitt (1799-1862); the "conformist" sense comes from the title character of Sinclair Lewis's 1922 novel Babbitt.

babble

Old English

From Old English roots meaning "to chatter", likely imitating the repetitive sounds of infant speech (compare "baby").

babblemouth

Origin

From babble + mouth.

babbling

Middle English

From Middle English bablyng, babelynge, equivalent to babble + -ing.

babby

Origin

From the clipping of Barbara + -y.

Babcock

Middle English

A pet form of the Middle English personal name Babb.

babe

Old English

From Middle English babe, likely related to Old English roots for "child", ultimately imitating baby-talk sounds like "ba" (compare "baby", "papa", "mama").

Babel

Origin

From the biblical Tower of Babel, where, according to Genesis, God confused human languages so builders could no longer understand one another.

baboon

Old French

From Old French babouin, probably from a word meaning "grimace" or "muzzle" — the animal was likely named for its expressive face.

Babs

Origin

From the clipping of Barbara + -s (hypocoristic suffix).

babu

Hindi

From Hindi बाबू (bābū), a term of respect that also came to label colonial-era clerks.

babuji

Hindi

From Hindi babu ("clerk, gentleman") plus the honorific suffix -ji, which is added to names or titles across South Asia to show respect.

babushka

Russian

From Russian babushka 'grandmother', a diminutive of baba 'old woman'.

baby

Origin

A diminutive form of the older English word "babe," probably imitating the sounds a baby makes (compare "babble").

babycakes

Origin

From baby + cakes.

Babylon

Latin

From the Akkadian name meaning roughly "Gate of God," passed down through Greek and Latin into English.

Babylonian

Latin

From Latin Babylonius, itself from the Greek form of "Babylon," plus the adjective ending "-ian."

babysit

Origin

Formed by dropping "-ter" from "babysitter."

babysitter

Origin

From baby + sitter.

babysitting

Origin

From baby + sitting.

bac

French

Borrowed from French bac.

baccarat

French

Borrowed from French, likely named after the town of Baccarat in eastern France, though the exact link is debated.

bacchanal

Origin

From Latin Bacchānālis (“of or pertaining to Bacchus”). See Bacchanalia.

bacchanalia

Origin

From Latin Bacchānālia (“feast of Bacchus”), plural of Bacchānal (“a place devoted to Bacchus”), from Bacchus (“the god of wine”), from Ancient Greek Βάκχος (Bákkhos).

Bacchus

Latin

Borrowed from Latin Bacchus, from the Greek Bákkhos.

bach

Origin

A shortened form of "bachelor" (or "bachelor pad").

bachelor

Medieval Latin

From Old French bacheler, ultimately from Medieval Latin baccalarius — originally a term for a young knight or novice, later extended to unmarried men and academic degree-holders.

bachelorette

Origin

From bachelor + the feminine suffix -ette.

back

Old English

From Old English bæc, of ancient Germanic origin, ultimately possibly related to a root meaning "to bend."

back end

English

A compound of back and end, describing the part of a system furthest from the user.

backache

Origin

From back + ache.

backal

Origin

From back + -al, in humorous reference to frontal. Used since at least the 1970s.

backbite

Origin

From Middle English bakbiten, bacbiten, equivalent to back- + bite. Cognate with Icelandic bakbíta (“to backbite, vilify”).

backblock

Origin

From back + block.

backboard

Origin

From back + board.

backbone

Middle English

From Middle English bakbon, a compound of back and bone.

backchat

Origin

From back + chat.

backcloth

Origin

From back + cloth.

backcountry

Origin

From back + country.

backdrop

Origin

From back + drop.

backed

Origin

From back + the suffix -ed.

backer

Origin

From back + -er.