"B" Word Origins

beknow

Origin

From Middle English beknowen, biknowen, from Old English becnāwan (“to know, know about”), equivalent to be- + know. Cognate with Old High German bichnāan (“to recognise, see”).

bel

Origin

Named after Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor associated with the telephone.

belaud

Origin

From be- + laud.

belave

Origin

From Middle English bilaven (“to wash all over”), from bi-, be- + laven (“to wash, pour water on”), equivalent to be- + lave.

belay

Old English

From Old English beleccgan, "to lay around, secure" — built from be- ("around") plus lay, later specialised into rope and climbing use.

belch

Old English

From Old English bielcan, likely imitating the sound itself, related to Low German words meaning "to bark" or "shout."

belcher

Origin

From belch + -er.

beldame

Origin

Inherited from late (1400–1450) Middle English beldame, beldam, from Middle English bel (“attractive, fine, good”) (from Old French bel (“beautiful”), from Latin bellus) + dame, dam (“a mother, lady”), itself ultimately from Latin domina (“a mistress, lady”).

beleaguer

Origin

Borrowed from Dutch belegeren and/or Middle Low German belēgeren; equivalent to be- + lair. Compare also German belagern, Danish belejre. The English spelling was perhaps influenced by unrelated league.

beleaguered

Dutch

From beleaguer ("to besiege," from Dutch belegeren, "to lay siege to") plus the adjective-forming suffix -ed.

beleave

Origin

From Middle English beleven, from Old English belǣfan (“to leave, let remain”), from Proto-Germanic *bilaibijaną. Equivalent to be- + leave. Intransitive use may be influenced by related belive (“to remain”), which see.

Belen

Spanish

From Spanish, derived from Belen, the Spanish name for Bethlehem.

Belfast

Irish

From Irish Béal Feirste (literally “mouth of the River Farset”).

belfry

Old French

From Old French berfroi, "movable siege tower," itself from a Germanic word related to "barrow" and "peace/protection." The spelling shifted from ber- to bel- because people wrongly linked it to the word "bell."

Belgrade

French

From French Belgrade, from Medieval Latin Belgradum and Belogradum, ultimately from South Slavic forms of Proto-Slavic *bělъ (“white”) and *gȏrdъ (“fortress, city”), after the white walls of its medieval fortress. Doublet of Beograd, Berat, and Belgorod.

belibel

Origin

From be- + libel.

belie

Origin

From Middle English belyen, beliggen, from Old English beliċġan, biliċġan (“to lie around, surround, hedge in, encompass”), from Proto-West Germanic *biliggjan, from Proto-Germanic *biligjaną (“to lie around”). Equivalent to be- (“around, by”) + lie (“to be positioned”).

belief

Old English

From Old English geleafa via Middle English bileve — related to German Glaube. The final sound shifted from a "v" to an "f" sound by analogy with pairs like "grief/grieve" and "proof/prove."

believable

Middle English

From Middle English bilevable, beleevable, equivalent to believe + -able.

believe

Old English

From Old English belifan, built from be- plus a root related to "leave" in the old sense of "give permission" — over time this shifted to mean "hold something to be true."

believing

Middle English

From Middle English bilevyng, belevand, bileveand, belefand, from Old English *belēfende, ġelīfende, ġelȳfende. Equivalent to believe + -ing.

belike

Origin

From Middle English beliken (“to simulate, feign”), equivalent to be- + like.

Belinda

French

Built from Belle plus the ending -inda, echoing Romance words for "beautiful" (French belle, Italian bella). It was popularised by Alexander Pope's poem, and a moon of Uranus was later named after his character.

belisama

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin Belisama.

belittle

Origin · 1782

Formed from be- plus little; the word is credited to Thomas Jefferson, who coined it in 1782.

belive

Old English

From Old English belifan, "to remain," related to the modern word "leave."

Belize

Spanish

The origin is debated: one theory links it to a Scottish pirate named Peter Wallace, whose name may have been altered through Spanish pronunciation; another traces it to a Maya word, balix or belix, meaning "muddy waters," referring to the Belize River.

bell

Old English

From Old English belle, related to Germanic words for "bell" across Dutch, German, and the Scandinavian languages.

Bella

Italian

From Italian bella, meaning "beautiful," reinterpreted by folk etymology as a shortening of Isabella or Arabella.

belladonna

Italian

From Italian bella donna, "beautiful lady," because women once used drops made from the plant to make their pupils look larger and more attractive.

Bellagio

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Bellagio.

Bellamy

Old French

From Old French bel ami, meaning "fair friend" — possibly also linked to the Norman town of Belesme.

bellboy

Origin

A compound of bell and boy, from the practice of ringing a bell to summon this staff member.

belle

Latin

From French belle, "beautiful," from Latin bella.

bellerophon

Origin

From the genus name.

Belles

Origin

Named after British colonial administrator and author Henry Hesketh Bell (1864–1952).

Belleville

French

From French belle ville, meaning "beautiful town".

Bellevue

French

From French belle vue, meaning "beautiful view".

bellhop

Origin

A shortened form of the older word bellhopper.

belligerence

Origin

From belligerent + -ence.

belligerent

Latin

From Latin belligerans, "waging war," built from bellum ("war") plus a root meaning "to carry on" — the same root family as "belt" has nothing to do with, but "bellicose" definitely does.

Bellini

Origin

Named by a Venetian bartender after the painter Giovanni Bellini, whose pink-toned paintings the drink’s colour supposedly resembled.

bellman

Middle English

From Middle English belleman — literally "bell" plus "man," originally someone whose job was ringing a bell to get attention.

bello

Italian

Borrowed from Italian bello, meaning "handsome" or "fella" — related to English "beau."

bellow

Old English

From Old English belgan, "to swell with rage," part of the same ancient root family as "bulge" and "billow" — the common thread being something swelling up before it bursts out.

bellower

Origin

From bellow + -er.

bellows

Old English

From an Old English word meaning "bag" or "skin" — related to "belly," since early bellows were essentially inflatable leather bags.

bellowser

Origin

From bellows + -er, from bellows (“the lungs”); (life sentence): because people continue to breathe until they die.