"B" Word Origins

bespoke

Origin

Grew out of "bespeak," meaning to arrange or order something in advance — so a bespoke suit was, historically, one "spoken for" ahead of time.

Bess

Origin

A variant of Beth, itself a clipping of Elizabeth.

Bessie

Origin

From Bess + -ie.

best

Old English

From Old English betst/bezt, the superlative form of "good," ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root shared with "better."

best friend

Middle English

From Middle English best frend, best freond, equivalent to best + friend. Compare West Frisian bêste freon (“best friend”), Dutch beste vriend (“best friend”), German bester Freund (“best friend”).

bestand

Origin

From Middle English bistanden, bestanden, from Old English bestandan, from Proto-West Germanic *bistandan, from Proto-Germanic *bistandaną (“to surround, support”). Equivalent to be- (“around, by”) + stand.

bestead

Origin

From be- + stead (“to support, help”).

bestest

Origin

Formed by adding the regular superlative ending "-est" onto "best," which is already a superlative — a playful double intensifier.

bestial

Latin

From Old French bestial, from Latin bēstia, "beast."

bestiality

Origin

From "bestial" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ity."

bestie

Origin

An informal shortening of "best (friend)" plus the affectionate "-ie" ending.

bestill

Origin

From Middle English bistillen, bystillen (“to silence”), equivalent to be- + still. Perhaps and alteration of earlier Middle English istillen, ȝestillen (“to make still, calm”), from Old English ġestillan (“to calm, quieten, pacify, stop”).

bestow

Middle English

From Middle English bestowen, built from "be-" plus "stow" ("to place or pack away") — originally meaning to put something in its proper place.

bestride

Origin

From Middle English bestriden, from Old English bestrīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *bistrīdan; equivalent to be- + stride. Compare Dutch bestrijden, German bestreiten.

bestseller

Origin

A straightforward compound of "best" and "seller."

besully

Origin

From Middle English bisulien, from Old English besylian (“to soil, stain”), equivalent to be- + sully.

bet

Middle English

Origin uncertain — likely from old criminal slang, possibly connected to a Middle English word for "advantage" or to "abet," meaning to incite or urge on.

beta

Ancient Greek

Borrowed from Ancient Greek bêta, itself from a Phoenician letter name meaning "house" — the same root that gives English "beth."

betadine

Origin

From the trademarked brand name Betadine.

betalk

Origin

From be- (“about, concerning”) + talk.

Betcha

Origin

From bet + -cha. Second sense possibly from bet your rather than bet you.

betel

Portuguese

Borrowed through Portuguese from a South Indian word for the plant's leaf.

betell

Origin

From Middle English betellen (“to tell about, calumniate”), from Old English betellan (“to speak about, answer, defend oneself against a charge or accusation”), equivalent to be- (“about, concerning”) + tell.

beth

Origin

From a Middle Bronze Age pictogram of a house, ultimately meaning "house" in an ancient Semitic language.

Bethany

Greek

From Aramaic via Greek, traditionally understood as meaning "house of affliction" or similar, though the exact meaning is debated.

bethel

Hebrew

From Hebrew beth el, literally "house of God."

Bethesda

Aramaic

From Aramaic, traditionally translated as "house of grace" or "house of mercy."

bethink

Origin

From Middle English bethenken, bithenchen (“to think about, consider”) from Old English beþenċan, biþenċan (“to think upon, remind, consider, remember”), from Proto-Germanic *biþankijaną; equivalent to be- + think. Akin to Old High German pidenchan (German bedenken), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (biþagkjan), Dutch bedenken.

Bethlehem

Latin

From Hebrew beth lechem, literally "house of bread," passed into English via Greek and Latin. The word "bedlam" is a doublet, coming from the same source through the nickname of London's infamous Bethlehem psychiatric hospital.

betide

Middle English

From Middle English, built from "be-" plus an old verb "tide," meaning "to happen" — related to the noun "tide" in the sense of time or season.

betimber

Origin

From Middle English *betimbren, from Old English betimbran, betimbrian (“to construct, build”), equivalent to be- + timber.

betimes

Origin

From Middle English betymes, from bi (“by”) + time + adverbial -s. By surface analysis, betime + -s (adverbial suffix). Compare also betides.

Beto

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Beto.

betoken

Origin

From Middle English bitoknen, bitacnen, from Old English betācnian (“to betoken, signify, designate”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitaiknijan. Equivalent to be- + token. Cognate with Dutch betekenen (“to mean, signify”), German bezeichnen (“to call, designate”), Swedish beteckna (“to represent, designate, indicate”) and Danish betegne (“to represent, designate, indicate”).

betone

Origin

From be- (“at, on, upon”) + tone. Compare German betonen.

betrap

Origin

From Middle English betrappen, bitrappen, from Old English betræppan, betreppan (“to entrap, catch”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitrappjan, equivalent to be- + trap. Cognate with West Frisian betrappe, betraapje (“to catch, surprise”), Dutch betrappen (“to catch, surprise”).

betray

Middle English

From Middle English betrayen, built from "be-" plus an old word meaning "to betray," ultimately related to "traitor" and "treason."

betrayal

Origin

Formed from "betray" plus the noun-forming suffix "-al."

betrayee

Origin

From betray + -ee.

betrayer

Origin

Simply betray plus the agent suffix -er, "one who does" — the same pattern as "teacher" from "teach."

betraying

Middle English

From Middle English betraying, bytrayenge, betraȝyng, equivalent to betray + -ing.

betrim

Origin

From be- (prefix meaning ‘about; around’) + trim.

betroth

Origin

From Middle English bitrouthen, bitreuthen (“of a man: to pledge to marry; to give (a woman) in marriage, arrange the marriage of”), from bi- (prefix forming transitive verbs from nouns) + trouth, treuthe (“faithfulness, fidelity, specifically marital fidelity; promise, undertaking, specifically a promise of marriage; truth; etc.”) (from Old English trīewþ, trēowþ (“fidelity; good faith, honour; assurance of good faith, covenant, troth; truth”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō (“contract; promise”), from Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree; hence, firm, hard; faithful, true”)), possibly modelled after Old English trēowsian (“to pledge oneself; to prove oneself to be true”)). By surface analysis, be- + troth.

betrothal

Origin

From betroth ("to promise in marriage") plus the noun-forming suffix -al, as in "arrival" or "refusal."

betrothed

Middle English

Past participle of betroth, from Middle English, built from be- + trouthe ("truth, pledge") — literally "to pledge one's truth to."

Betsy

Origin

A shortened, affectionate form of Elizabeth with the friendly -sy ending, the same pattern seen in "Patsy" from Patricia.

better

Old English

From Old English betera, going back to a Germanic root meaning "good," the same ancestor that gives us "best" and, more distantly, "battle."

betterhood

Origin

From better + -hood.