"B" Word Origins

betterment

Origin

From better plus the noun-forming suffix -ment, as in "improvement" or "advancement."

betterness

Origin

From Middle English betternes. Equivalent to better + -ness.

Bettie

Origin

From Beth + -ie.

betty

Origin

From the nickname Betty for Elizabeth. Thieves' slang later borrowed the name for a lock-picking bar, much as it borrowed "Bess" for the same tool.

between

Old English

From Old English betwēonum, literally "by the two" — built from be- and a word related to "twain" (two), the same root behind "betwixt" and "twin."

betwixt

Old English

From Old English betweox, from a Germanic root meaning "twofold" — a close relative of "between" and "twin."

Beulah

Hebrew

From Biblical Hebrew, meaning "married (woman)," used in the Book of Isaiah as a poetic name for the land of Israel and later adopted by Puritans as a personal name.

Bevan

Welsh

An anglicized form of the Welsh "ab Ifan," meaning "son of Ifan (John)."

beverage

Latin

From Old French bevrage, based on a verb meaning "to drink," ultimately from Latin bibere ("to drink") — the same root that gives us "imbibe."

beveridge

Origin

From Middle English beverage, probably a nickname or an occupational surname.

Beverley

Old English

From Old English befer ("beaver") and lēah ("clearing" or "meadow") — literally "beaver clearing."

Beverly

Old English

A variant American spelling of Beverley, ultimately from Old English words meaning "beaver clearing."

bevy

Middle English

From Middle English bevey, of uncertain origin, possibly from Anglo-Norman.

bewail

Origin

From Middle English bewailen, equivalent to be- (“over, about”) + wail.

beward

Origin

From Middle English *bewarden, from Old English beweardian (“to ward, protect, keep”), equivalent to be- + ward.

beware

Middle English

From Middle English "be ware," literally "be wary/watchful" — a fusion of "be" and "aware."

bewatered

Origin

From bewater + -ed.

bewed

Origin

From Middle English biwedden, from Old English beweddian (“to betroth, marry, give security”), from Proto-West Germanic *biwaddjōn, equivalent to be- + wed. Cognate with Old Frisian biweddia.

beweep

Origin

From Middle English bewepen, biwepen, from Old English bewēpan (“to weep over, mourn, bewail”), from Proto-West Germanic *biwōpijan (“to weep over”), equivalent to be- + weep. Cognate with Old Frisian biwēpa (“to beweep”), Old Saxon biwōpian (“to beweep”).

bewilder

Origin

From be- (prefix used as an intensifier) + wilder (“to lead astray; to go astray, wander”).

bewildering

Origin

From bewilder ("to confuse or disorient someone") plus the suffix -ing.

bewilderment

Origin

From bewilder + -ment.

bewitch

Origin

From Middle English bewicchen, bewycchen, biwicchen, equivalent to be- + witch.

bewitcher

Origin

From bewitch + -er.

bewitchery

Origin

From bewitch + -ery.

bewitching

Origin

From bewitch plus -ing.

bewray

Origin

From Middle English bewraien, bewreyen, biwreyen, from Old English *bewrēġan, from Proto-Germanic *biwrōgijaną (“to speak about; tell on; inform of”). Cognate with Old Frisian biwrōgja (“to disclose, reveal”), Dutch bewroegen (“to blame; accuse”), Middle Low German bewrȫgen (“to accuse; complain about; punish”), Old High German biruogen (“to disclose, reveal”), Modern German berügen (“to defraud”).

bewreck

Origin

From be- + wreck. Compare Old English bewrecan (“to drive or bring to”). More at be-, wreck.

Bex

Origin

Variant of Becks.

bey

Ottoman Turkish

From Ottoman Turkish "bey," meaning "gentleman" or "chief," tracing back to an old Turkic word for "lord."

beyond

Old English

From Old English beġeondan, formed from be- and geond ("yonder") — closely related to "yonder."

bezant

Origin

From Middle English besaunt, from Old French bezant, nominative bezanz, from Latin byzantius (“of Byzantium”).

bezique

Origin

Borrowed from French bésigue, of unknown origin.

bezoar

Origin

Borrowed from Spanish bezoar and/or French bézoard, based on Arabic بَازَهْر (bāzahr), from Middle Persian pʾtzhl (pādzahr, “bezoar, antidote”), from a compound of words meaning “to protect” and “poison” (literally “killing thing”), thus a bezoar was “that which protects against poison”. In ancient times, bezoars from animals were ground up and ingested as remedies for various maladies and as antidotes to poisons.

BFF

English

An initialism of best friends forever.

Bhabhi

Hindi

Borrowed from Hindi bhābhī, used for an elder brother's wife or as a respectful term for an older woman.

bhagat

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Punjabi bhagat, ultimately from the Sanskrit word behind "bhakta" ("devotee").

bhai

Sanskrit

From Hindi and Urdu bhāī ("brother"), ultimately from the Sanskrit word behind "brother" itself — the two words share the same distant ancestor.

bhang

Origin

Transliteration of Hindustani بھانگ / भाँग (bhāṅg).

bhangra

Origin

From Punjabi bhaṅgṛā, related to bhaṅg ("hemp"), reflecting the folk dance's roots in harvest festivities.

Bharat

Sanskrit

From Hindi/Sanskrit bhārata, the traditional name for the Indian subcontinent, related to the legendary king Bharata.

Bhaskar

Hindi

Borrowed from Hindi bhāskar, meaning "sun" or "giver of light."

Bhavani

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit bhavānī, an epithet of the Hindu goddess associated with Durga and Parvati.

bhindi

Origin

Borrowed from Hindi भिंडी (bhiṇḍī, “okra”), a feminine form of Sanskrit भिण्डा (bhiṇḍā).

Bhopal

Origin · 1984

From the city of Bhopal, India, site of the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak — one of the worst industrial disasters in history.

Bhutan

French

Borrowed via French and Nepali, ultimately connected to a Prakrit term meaning roughly "end of Tibet."

bi

Origin

A clipped form — "bisexual" shortened to "bi," and separately "biceps" shortened the same way.

Bianca

Italian

From Italian bianca, "white."