"B" Word Origins

Bassett

French

From bassett, basset, from French basset.

bassist

Origin

From bass + the agent suffix -ist.

bassoon

French

Borrowed from French basson.

basswood

Origin

From bass (“fibrous inner bark”) + wood.

bast

Old English

From Old English baest, from Proto-West Germanic *bast, related to German Bast and Swedish bast.

basta

Italian

Borrowed directly from Italian basta, "(it is) enough."

bastard

Old French

From Old French bastart, "illegitimate child," probably from a Frankish word for an irregular union combined with the pejorative suffix -art.

baste

Old French

From Old French bastir, "to build or sew up a garment" — the cooking sense (dripping fat over meat) developed separately in English.

Bastian

Origin

A clipped, informal form of the given name Sebastian.

bastid

Origin

Clipped form or euphemised version of bastard

Bastille

French

From French bastille, "fortress" — the same word gave English "bastion."

bastion

Old French

From French bastion, from Old French bastille, "fortress."

bat

Old French

The flying-mammal sense comes from a dialect word related to Middle English "bakke"; the sporting-equipment sense is unrelated, from Old French "batte," meaning a club or beater.

batch

Old English

From Old English bæcce, "something baked" — related to the verb "bake."

batcrap

Origin

From bat + crap, as a euphemism for batshit.

bate

Origin

Inherited from Middle English baten (“to abate”), an apheretic form of abaten, from Old French abatre (“to knock down”).

bateless

Origin

From bate + -less.

Bateman

Origin

From Bate + man, with the meaning "servant of Bate".

Bates

Origin

A patronymic surname that is derived from Batte, a medieval form of the male given name Bartholomew + -s (denoting "son of") hence meaning "son of Bartholomew".

bateson

Origin

From a medieval diminutive form of Bartholomew + -son.

batey

Origin

From Batte, a Middle English pet-form of Bartholomew.

batful

Origin

From Middle English batful, badfull, perhaps from Old English *batfull, equivalent to bat (“to improve"; as in "battle, batten”) + -ful. Compare also Old Norse bati (“improvement, profit, usefulness”).

batgirl

Origin

From bat + girl, modelled on "Batman."

bath

Old English

From Old English bæth, going back to a very old Germanic root meaning "to warm" — the same root gives us "bathe."

bathe

Old English

From Old English bathian, from the same ancient root as "bath."

bather

Origin

From bathe + -er.

bathers

Origin

Abbreviation of bathing suit.

bathhouse

Origin

From bath + house.

bathing

Origin

From bathe + -ing.

bathometer

Origin

From batho- + -meter.

bathos

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βάθος (báthos, “depth”). Employed ironically following Alexander Pope's Peri Bathous, lampooning various errors in contemporary writers.

bathrobe

Origin

From bath + robe.

bathroom

Origin

From bath + room.

Bathsheba

Hebrew

From Hebrew, meaning "daughter of the oath" or "daughter of abundance".

bathtub

Origin

From bath + tub.

bathwater

Origin

From bath + water.

Batista

Origin

From Romance (Spanish Batista and Portuguese Batista).

batman

French

The military-servant sense comes from "bat" (a packsaddle, from French bât) + man; the comic-book character's name plays on the animal instead.

batmobile

Origin

From Batman + -mobile, following the pattern of words like "automobile."

baton

French

From French bâton, "stick."

batpoop

Origin

From bat + poop, as a euphemism for batshit.

batrachian

Origin

From New Latin Batrachia, former name of the zoological order Anura, from Ancient Greek βατράχεια (batrákheia), neuter plural of adjective from βάτραχος (bátrakhos, “frog”).

bats

Origin

From "bat(man)" plus the hypocoristic -s ending, likely reinforced by the phrase "bats in the belfry."

batshit

Origin

Probably built on "batty" ("crazy") plus "bats in one's belfry," and likely influenced by the similar slang term "apeshit."

batsman

Origin

From bat + -s- + man.

batson

Origin

From a diminutive form of Bartholomew + -son.

batt

Origin

Late Middle English in the sense "piece, lump," of uncertain origin, but possibly related to the noun bat with the sense of "beaten" fabric.

battalion

Middle French

From Middle French bataillon, ultimately from the same root as "battle."