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"B" Word Origins

Where do words come from? Trace the origin and history of any English word, from its Latin, Greek or Old English roots through to its modern meaning. Every etymology is sourced.

“B” Word Origins

backfield
Origin
From back + field.
backfire
Origin
From back + fire.
backflop
Origin
From back + flop.
backfriend
Origin
From back (adverb or noun) + friend. Sense 3 (“person who pretends to be someone’s friend”) may allude to a person who stays back instead of coming forward to help, and so is not a true friend.
backgammon
Origin
Probably from back + an old word for "game."
background
Origin
From back + ground.
backhand
Origin
From back + hand.
backhanded
Origin
From back + hand + -ed.
backhander
Origin
From backhand + -er (patient suffix) or -er (agent noun suffix).
backhoe
Origin
From back + hoe.
backhouse
Origin
From back + house.
backing
Origin
From back + -ing.
backlash
Origin
From back + lash.
backlog
Origin · 1880
Originally a large log burned at the back of a fire; the figurative "stored-up work" meaning emerged in the 1880s.
backpack
Origin
From back + pack.
backpacking
Origin
From backpack + -ing.
backpedal
Origin
From back + pedal.
backrest
Origin
Compound of back + rest.
backroom
Origin
A compound of back and room.
backseat
Origin
From back + seat.
backside
Origin
From back + side.
backslash
Origin
From back + slash, because it is a slash “leaning back” against the direction of writing (in writing lines from left to right), in contrast to the more common (forward) slash / (“solidus, oblique, diagonal”). The actual direction of (hand-)writing these marks can be reversed, when writing from left to right, top to baseline: the backslash forwards, the (forward) slash backwards. The naming can be explained as an anthropomorphism, assuming a bar (|) standing on the baseline, facing in the direction of writing, toppling backwards or forwards, respectively. The (new) Unicode name of \ is REVERSE SOLIDUS.
backslide
Origin
From back + slide.
backstabbee
Origin
From backstab + -ee.
backstabber
Origin
A straightforward compound of back + stabber, painting the picture of an attack that comes from behind rather than face-to-face.
backstage
Origin
From back + stage — literally the space located behind the performing area of a theatre.
backstory
Origin
From back- (meaning "toward the past") combined with story — literally the story behind the current one.
backstreet
Origin
From back + street, describing streets tucked away from a town's main thoroughfares.
Backstrom
Swedish
From Swedish backe ("hill") or bäck ("stream") + ström ("stream").
backtalk
Origin
From back + talk.
backtrack
Origin
From back + track — literally to travel back over the same track or path.
backup
Origin
A noun formed from the phrasal verb back up, meaning to support or reinforce from behind.
backward
Middle English
From Middle English bakwarde, formed from back plus the directional suffix -ward, meaning "in the direction of the back."
backwards
Origin
Formed from backward plus the adverbial ending -s, in the same pattern as "afterwards" or "towards."
backwash
Origin
From back + wash.
backwater
Origin
From back + water, originally describing water pushed back by an obstruction, later extended to mean a place left behind by progress.
backwood
Origin
From back + wood; compare backwater.
backwoods
Origin
From back + woods, describing forest lying beyond settled areas.
backwoodsman
Origin
From backwoods + man.
backyard
Origin
From back + yard, meaning the yard situated behind a house rather than in front.
bacon
Middle English
From Middle English bacoun, borrowed via Anglo-Norman from an Old Low Frankish word for cured pork, ultimately related to the same Germanic root as the English word "back."
bacteria
Ancient Greek
From New Latin bactēria, taken from the Ancient Greek word for a small rod or staff, reflecting the rod-like shape of many bacteria.
bacterial
Origin
Formed by adding the adjective ending -al to "bacteria."
bacterium
Ancient Greek
From New Latin bactērium, from the Ancient Greek word for "small staff," referring to the rod-like shape common among these organisms.
bad
Old English
From Middle English bad, badde, of uncertain and much-debated origin — possibly linked to an Old English word for a hermaphrodite, or borrowed from a similar Old Norse word meaning trouble or damage.
badass
Origin
A slang compound of bad and ass, using "bad" in its informal sense of "impressively tough" rather than its usual negative meaning.
badge
Medieval Latin
From Middle English badge, borrowed from an Anglo-Norman or Medieval Latin word for an emblem or sign, of uncertain deeper origin.
badger
Middle English
The verb comes from the noun (via a Middle English word meaning "marked by a badge," referring to the animal's badge-like facial marking), later extended to describe the persistent, nagging behavior once associated with badger-baiting.