"B" Word Origins

bellwether

English

From Middle English, literally a wether (a castrated ram) wearing a bell so the rest of the flock would follow it.

belly

Old English

From Old English bielġ, meaning "bag" or "bulge" — a distant cousin of "bellows," since both descend from a root meaning "to swell up."

bellyache

Origin

A straightforward compound of "belly" and "ache."

bellyacher

Origin

From bellyache + -er.

bellybutton

Origin

A simple, informal compound of "belly" and "button," describing the navel’s button-like appearance.

bellyful

Origin

From "belly" plus the suffix "-ful," meaning "enough to fill."

bellyload

Origin

From belly + load.

Belmont

French

From French beau mont, meaning "beautiful mountain".

belock

Origin

From Middle English belouken, bilouken, from Old English belūcan (“to lock up, bring to an end”), from Proto-West Germanic *bilūkan (“to lock up”), equivalent to be- + lock. Cognate with Middle Low German belûken (“to close, secure”), Middle High German belūchen, belouchen (“to enclose, shut in”), obsolete German belochen (“lock up, lock in, include”).

belong

Old English

From Middle English belongen, combining "be-" with an Old English word meaning "to pertain to" or "be fitting."

belonging

Origin

Formed from "belong" plus the suffix "-ing."

beloved

Middle English

From Middle English beloved, the past participle of an older verb "belove" plus "-ed."

below

Middle English

From Middle English bilooghe, formed from "be-" plus "low."

below the belt

English

From boxing, where punches landing under the waistband are a foul. The phrase is associated with the Queensberry rules (1867), though the low blow is barred by later codes rather than by an explicit clause in the rules themselves.

belowground

Origin

From below + ground.

Belphegor

Hebrew

From Biblical Hebrew via Greek, ultimately referring to a Moabite deity ("Baal of Peor") later demonised in Christian tradition.

belt

Latin

From Old English belt, borrowed long ago from Latin balteus, "sword-belt."

belter

Origin

From "belt" plus "-er," originally meaning simply someone who makes belts, later extended to anything impressively forceful.

belting

German

Borrowed from German Belting.

Beltran

Spanish

An anglicization of Spanish Beltrán.

Beltway

Origin

From "belt" (something that encircles) plus "way," originally describing the ring road around Washington, D.C.

beluga

Russian

Borrowed from Russian белу́га (belúga), from бе́лый (bélyj), "white."

belvedere

Italian

Borrowed from Italian belvedere, literally "beautiful view."

BEM

Origin

An acronym from "bug-eyed monster," a term coined by science-fiction fans to mock cliché alien villains.

bemoan

Origin

From Middle English bemenen, bimenen, from Old English bemǣnan (“to bemoan, bewail, lament”); equivalent to be- (“about, concerning”) + moan. Alteration of vowel from Middle to Modern English due to analogy with moan.

bemuse

Origin

From be- + muse. In meaning, influenced by bemaze and later amuse.

ben

Scottish Gaelic · 100

The mountain sense comes from Scottish Gaelic beinn, "mountain"; the "$100 bill" slang comes from Benjamin Franklin’s portrait on the note.

Benadryl

Origin

A trademarked name built from "benzhydryl," referring to the drug’s chemical structure.

bench

Old English

From Old English benċ, "bench" — related to "bank" (both come from the same old Germanic root for a raised seat or shelf).

benchmark

Origin · 1880

Originally a surveyor’s mark cut into stone to hold measuring equipment steady; the figurative "standard of comparison" sense developed later, around the 1880s.

bend

Old English

From Old English bendan, "to bend a bow" — from the same root as "bind" and "band," since bending a bow originally meant stringing it tight.

bendejo

Spanish

An error for Spanish pendejo, from Latin pectiniculus, a diminutive of pecten 'comb', used by extension of the pubic region.

bender

Origin · 1840

The "heavy drinking" sense dates from the 1840s, likely tied to the old phrase "bend the elbow" (to drink).

bends

Origin

So named because sufferers historically bent over in pain, a posture that also echoed a fashionable stooped walk of the era nicknamed "the Grecian bend."

bendy

Old English

From bend plus the adjective-forming suffix -y, going back to the Old English verb bendan, "to bend."

bene

Old English

From Old English ben, "prayer or petition," related to the modern word "boon."

beneath

Old English

From Old English bineoþan, formed from be- plus neoþan ("below"), the same root family that gives us "nether."

benedict

Latin

The bachelor sense comes from Benedick, a witty confirmed bachelor in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, who ends up marrying anyway. The name itself traces to Latin Benedictus, "blessed."

benediction

Origin

From Middle English benediccion, from Ecclesiastical Latin benedictio, benedictionis, from benedictus (“blessed; well spoken of”). Doublet of benison.

benefaction

Origin

From Latin benefactiōnem, from benefacere (“to benefit”).

benefactive

Origin

From Latin benefactus (“benefited”) plus -ive. Attested since the twentieth century.

benefactor

Latin

From Latin benefactor, "one who does good," built from bene ("well") and facere ("to do").

benefice

Origin

From Old French benefice, from Latin beneficium.

beneficence

Origin

From Middle English beneficence, from Latin beneficentia.

beneficent

Origin

From Latin *beneficens, *beneficent-, from bene (“well, good”) + -ficens, combining form from faciens, present participle of facere (“to make or do”). Compare English beneficence.

beneficial

Late Latin

From Late Latin beneficialis, from Latin beneficium, "a favor or kindness" — the same root behind "benefit."

beneficiary

Latin

From Latin beneficiarius, "one granted a favor or privilege," from beneficium ("benefit") — making it a distant cousin of "benefactor," even though the two words end up meaning close to opposites in everyday use.

benefit

Latin

From Old French bienfait, "good deed," from bien ("well") and faire ("to do"), modeled on Latin benefactum — the same root as "benefactor."