"B" Word Origins

beardless

Origin

From Middle English bērdlēs, from Old English beardlēas (“beardless”), from Proto-West Germanic *bardalaus (“beardless”), equivalent to beard + -less. Cognate with Scots berdles (“beardless”), Saterland Frisian boartloos (“beardless”), West Frisian burdleas (“beardless”), Dutch baardeloos (“beardless”), German Low German baartlos (“beardless”), German bartlos (“beardless”).

bearer

Old English

From Old English berere, from bear ("to carry") + -er ("one who does").

bearing

Middle English

From Middle English bering, formed from bear + -ing, originally meaning "carrying" or "producing (fruit)."

bearskin

Origin

From bear + skin.

Beasley

Origin

Variant of Beesley.

beast

Latin

From Old French beste (Modern French bête), from Latin bēstia, meaning "animal."

beastie

Origin

From "beast" plus the diminutive suffix "-ie," giving it a softer, more affectionate tone.

beastly

Middle English

From Middle English bestely, formed from beast + -ly.

beastmaster

Origin · 1982

From beast + master, popularised by fantasy games and the 1982 film of the same name.

beat

Old English

From Old English bēatan, meaning "to strike or pound," an ancient Germanic verb related to words for "pushing" or "striking" in several other languages.

beatable

Origin

From beat + -able, in the sense of "able to be bettered" as a back-formation from unbeatable.

beatdown

Origin

A noun formed from the phrasal verb "beat down."

beaten

Origin

The past participle of beat, formed by adding -en.

beater

Old English

From Old English bēatere, "one who strikes," formed from beat + -er.

beatific

Origin

From Latin beātificus (“making happy or blessed”), from beātus (“blessed”) + -ficus (“making”).

beating

Origin

By surface analysis, beat + -ing.

beatitude

Origin

From Middle English beatitude, beatytude, from Middle French béatitude, from Latin beātitūdō (“happiness, blessedness”), from beātus (“happy, blessed”).

Beatle

Origin

A back-formed singular from "Beatles," the band name itself a pun blending "beat" (as in beat music) with "beetles."

Beatles

Origin

Originally spelled Beatals, punningly referencing the expression beat all (“surpass everything”), then later altered to Beatles, blend of beat + beetles, with beat referring to "beat music" or the "beat" of a drum, and beetles inspired by the contemporaneous band name The Crickets.

beatnik

Russian · 1958

Coined in 1958 by columnist Herb Caen, blending "beat" (as in Beat Generation) with the Russian-derived suffix "-nik" — the same suffix popularised by "Sputnik."

Beatrice

Latin

From Latin Beatrix, related to beatus ("blessed, happy").

Beatrix

Latin

A Latin form of Beatrice.

Beatriz

Spanish

Borrowed directly from Portuguese and Spanish; a doublet of Beatrice.

beats

Origin

Clipping of Beatrice or Beatrix + -s (hypocoristic suffix).

beatson

Origin

Patronymic from the personal name Beat.

Beatty

Irish

Two main origins: * From a pet form of the personal name Bartholomew. * Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Mac an Bhiadhtaigh (“son of the victualer”), from biadhtach (“victualer, hospitaller”).

beau

Latin · 1600

From French beau, "handsome" or "fine," going back to Latin bellus ("beautiful"). English borrowed it whole in the 17th century for a fashionable man, and it later softened into the word for a boyfriend or suitor.

Beauchamp

Old French

From Old French beau champ, meaning "beautiful field".

beaucoup

French

Borrowed directly from French beaucoup ("a lot, very much"). It entered American slang mainly through soldiers stationed in France and Vietnam, who picked it up from locals and brought it home.

Beaufort

French

Named after Beaufort-sur-Doron, the French Alpine town where the cheese has traditionally been made.

Beaujolais

Origin

Named after Beaujolais, the wine-growing region in eastern France where the grapes are grown, itself named from the town of Beaujeu.

Beaulieu

French

From French beau lieu, meaning "beautiful place".

beauly

Origin

From Old French beau + lieu.

Beaumont

French

From French beau mont, meaning "beautiful hill".

Beauregard

French

From French Beauregard.

beaut

Origin · 1800

A shortened, informal form of "beauty," used since the 19th century to praise something impressive.

beauteous

Origin · 1500

Built from "beauty" plus the adjective ending "-eous," on the model of words like "bounteous." It was common in poetic English from the 16th century onward.

beautician

Origin · 1920

A blend of "beauty" and "technician," coined in the United States in the 1920s to give the trade a more professional-sounding title.

beautiful

Latin

From beauty + -ful, entering English via Old French from Latin bellus, "pretty."

beautifully

Origin

Formed from "beautiful" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

beautify

Origin

From Middle English beutifien, from Old French beaute (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fine”), + -ify, from Latin facio (“make”).

beauty

Latin

From Old French beauté, going back to a Latin form built on bellus ("beautiful, fine"). It came into English through Anglo-Norman French after the Norman Conquest and gradually replaced the native Old English word for the same idea.

beav

Origin

A shortened form of "beaver," used as vulgar slang.

beaver

Old English

From Old English befer, going back to a very old Germanic and Indo-European root for the animal, related to words like Dutch bever and German Biber. The verb sense ("beaver away") comes from the animal's reputation for tireless, industrious work.

bebay

Origin

From be- + bay (“to bend”), from Middle English beien, beȝen, from Old English bīeġan (“to bend, turn, turn back, incline, depress, abase, humiliate, subject, persuade, convert”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- + *baugijaną.

Bebe

Origin

In most cases, the name is a diminutive of Beatrice.

bebop

Origin · 1940

Thought to imitate the two-note vocal riff musicians used when scatting or humming the style's rhythms — "be-bop" — which became the genre's name in the 1940s jazz scene.

becall

Origin

From Middle English bicallen, bikallen, equivalent to be- + call.