"B" Word Origins

bedrink

Origin

From Middle English *bedrinken, from Old English bedrincan (“to drink in, drink up, absorb”), from Proto-West Germanic *bidrinkan; conflated with Middle English bidrenchen (“to soak up, steep”) (attested in Middle English bidrenkt (“soaked, drenched”)), from Old English *bedrenċan (“to drench completely”), equivalent to be- + drink and be- + drench. Cognate with Dutch bedrinken (“to drink up, get drunk”), German betrinken (“to get drunk”).

bedrock

Origin

From "bed" (a foundational layer) plus "rock."

bedroom

Origin

From "bed" plus "room."

bedroomy

Origin

From bedroom + -y. First use appears c. 1842. See cite below.

bedside

Origin

From "bed" plus "side."

bedspread

Origin

From "bed" plus "spread."

bedtime

Germanic

From "bed" plus "time," with close cousins in other Germanic languages such as Dutch bedtijd and German Bettzeit.

bedwell

Origin

From be- (“around, about”) + dwell. Compare Middle Dutch bedwellen.

bee

Old English

From Old English beo, tracing back through Proto-Germanic to a very old Proto-Indo-European root simply meaning "bee."

beebread

Origin

Probably an Early Modern English combination of bee + bread, but compare the Old English bēobrēad (“honeycomb full of honey”), and Middle English beoblæd (for beobræd?). Cognate with Old Saxon bībrōd (“honeycomb”, “gingerbread”, literally “bee-bread”).

beech

Old English

From Old English bece, related to the word "book" — early books were sometimes made using beech wood or bark.

Beecham

Middle English

From Middle English, from Old French Beauchamp.

Beecher

German

Two possible origins: * A variant of Beech, with the locative suffix -er. * An Americanized form of German Bücher.

beechwood

Origin

From beech + wood.

beef

Latin · 1800

From Old French buef ("ox"), from Latin bovem, the same root that gives us "bovine." The slang sense meaning "a grudge" is American, first recorded as a verb ("to complain") in the late 1800s.

beefcake

Origin

From "beef" plus "cake," coined by analogy with "cheesecake," an older slang term for images of attractive women.

beefeater

Origin

From beef + eater.

beefer

Origin

From beef + -er.

Beefs

Origin

Beefa + -s.

beefy

Origin

From "beef" plus the adjective-forming ending "-y."

beehive

Origin

From "bee" plus "hive."

beej

Origin

Formed from saying the letters "B" and "J" together as one word.

beekeeper

Origin

From "bee" plus "keeper."

beeline

Origin

From "bee" plus "line," based on the old belief that bees fly straight back to their hive.

Beelzebub

Ancient Greek

First attested as Old English Belzebub, from Latin Beelzebūb, the Vulgate's form of Ancient Greek Βεελζεβούλ (Beelzeboúl), from Hebrew בעל זבוב (ba‘al-z'vúv, “fly-lord”), mentioned in 2 Kings chapter 1 as “the god of Ekron”.

Beeman

Origin

From "bee" plus "man," originally an occupational term (and surname) for someone who tended bees.

beemer

Origin

A clipped, informal form of "BMW" with "-er" added, the way slang nicknames often form.

been

Old English

From Old English beon, the infinitive form of "be," which later shifted to serve as its past participle.

beep

Origin

An onomatopoeic word — it imitates the sound itself.

beeper

Origin

From "beep" plus the "-er" ending, meaning "a thing that beeps."

beer

Vulgar Latin

From Old English beor, from a Proto-Germanic root, though some scholars trace a link to Vulgar Latin biber ("a drink"), from Latin bibere ("to drink").

beeswax

Origin

From "bee" plus "wax," referring to the wax bees secrete to build their combs.

beet

Latin

From Old English bete, ultimately from Latin beta.

Beethoven

German

Borrowed from German Beethoven, which is itself of Dutch origin.

beetle

Old English

From Old English bitela, related to "bite" — the name likely referred to the insect's biting mouthparts.

beetroot

Origin

From "beet" plus "root."

Beets

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

befall

Old English

From Old English befeallan, combining the prefix "be-" with "fall," originally meaning something like "to fall upon."

befalling

Origin

From Middle English bifallinge, equivalent to befall + -ing. Cognate with Dutch bevalling (“delivery, labour”), Swedish befallning (“command, behest, charge”).

befile

Origin

From Middle English befilen, from Old English befȳlan (“to befoul, defile, make dirty”), from Proto-West Germanic *bifūlijan (“to make foul”), equivalent to be- + file. Cognate with Scots befile (“to befile”), West Frisian befûlje (“to dirty”), Dutch bevuilen (“to soil, dirty”), German Low German befulen (“to soil, pollute”). See also defile.

befilth

Origin

From be- (“on, about, all over”) + filth.

befool

Origin

From Middle English bifolen, equivalent to be- + fool.

before

Old English

From Old English beforan, formed from be- plus foran ("in front"), ultimately going back to the same Indo-European root meaning "front" that also gives us "fore" and "forward."

beforehand

Middle English

From Middle English biforhand, literally "before hand" — the idea of having something ready in your hand ahead of time.

beforemath

Origin

From before + math (“a mowing”), by analogy with aftermath.

befoul

Origin

From be- + foul.

befree

Origin

From Middle English *befreen, *bifreen, from Old English befrēoġan (“to free, liberate”); equivalent to be- + free. Cognate with West Frisian befrije (“to liberate”), Dutch bevrijden (“to liberate, deliver”), German befreien (“to set free, liberate”), Swedish befria (“to liberate, free, deliver”).

befriend

Origin

Built from be- (an old intensifying prefix) plus friend, so it literally means "to make into a friend."