"B" Word Origins

bottom

Old English

From Old English botm, going back to a very old Indo-European root meaning "bottom" or "foundation," shared with similar words across many European languages.

bottomless

Middle English

From "bottom" plus "-less," first recorded in Middle English.

botulism

Latin

From German Botulismus, built on Latin botulus, "sausage" — early cases were traced to spoiled sausages — plus the medical suffix "-ism."

Bouchard

French

Borrowed from French Bouchard.

Boucher

French

Borrowed from French boucher, "butcher." A doublet of the English surname Butcher.

boudoir

French

From French boudoir, literally "a place to sulk," from bouder, "to sulk" — originally a room a lady could retreat to in a mood.

bough

Old English

From Old English bog/boh, meaning both "branch" and "shoulder" — the same ancient root that gave us the "bow" of a ship.

bought

Middle English

From Middle English bought, bowght, bouȝt, *buȝt, probably an alteration of bight, biȝt, byȝt (“bend, bight”) after bowen, buwen, buȝen (“to bow, bend”). Cognate with Scots boucht, bucht, bout (“bend”). More at bight and bout.

bougie

English

A shortening of bourgeois, from French, meaning middle-class.

bouillabaisse

French

From French bouillabaisse, from Occitan words meaning roughly "to boil" and "to lower (the heat)" — describing how the stew is cooked.

bouillon

Latin

From French bouillon, "broth," from bouillir, "to boil," ultimately from Latin bullire, "to bubble."

boujee

English

A respelling of bougie, itself a shortening of bourgeois.

boulder

Middle English

From Middle English "boulder stone," probably from an Old Swedish word for a large rock in a stream that made the water roar as it passed.

Boulet

French

Borrowed from French Boulet.

boulevard

French

From French boulevard, originally meaning a city rampart, from a Germanic word related to "bulwark" — the wide streets were often built where old fortress walls once stood.

bounce

Middle English

From Middle English bounsen, "to beat or thump," likely imitative of the sound of something striking a surface.

bouncy

Origin

From bounce + the adjective-forming suffix -y.

bound

Middle English

From Middle English bound/bounden, the past participle of "bind" — something "bound" was originally something tied or fastened.

boundary

Origin

From bound (a limit) plus the suffix -ary.

bounden

Origin

From bound + -en, the archaic past participle of bind.

bounder

Origin

From bound + -er. Sense 2 poss. from bandar, borrowed from Hindi बन्दर (bandar, “monkey”), via Indian English.

boundless

Origin

From bound ("a limit") plus the suffix -less, "without."

bountiful

Origin

From bounty plus the suffix -ful.

bounty

Latin

From Old French bonté, "goodness," from Latin bonitas — the reward sense developed later in English.

bouquet

French

From French bouquet, ultimately from a word for "grove" or "thicket" — a small cluster of plants.

bourbon

French

Named after Bourbon County, Kentucky, itself named for the French royal House of Bourbon.

bourgeois

French

From French bourgeois, "town dweller," ultimately from a Germanic word related to "borough."

bourgeoise

Origin

Borrowed from French bourgeoise.

bourgeoisie

French

From French bourgeoisie, from bourgeois, "town dweller."

bourne

Old French

From Old French bodne, ultimately of uncertain origin, possibly linked to a root meaning "bottom" or "base."

Bournemouth

Origin

From Bourne ("name of a local stream") plus mouth.

bout

Middle English

From Middle English bout/bought, related to "bow" and "bight" — the idea of a "turn" or "bend" in an activity.

boutade

Origin

Borrowed from French boutade, from bouter (“to thrust”). See butt.

boutique

French

From French boutique, "shop."

Bouvier

French

From French bouvier, "cowherd" or "ox-driver," reflecting the breed's original job herding cattle.

bovicide

Origin

From Latin bōs + -icide.

boviculture

Origin

From Latin bos (“cattle”) + cultura (“cultivation”); stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws which also gave Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), and English cow.

bovid

Origin

From the stem of Classical Latin bōs + -id, after taxonomic name Bovidae. By surface analysis, an appellativization from Bovid(ae) minus -ae (a pattern that recurs with many -idae names).

bovine

Late Latin

From Late Latin bovinus, "relating to cattle," from Latin bos, "ox" — the same root that gives us "beef."

bovril

Origin

Blend of bovine + Vril.

bow

Old English

From Old English boga, related to a Germanic root meaning "to bend" — the same root behind German Bogen.

Bowden

Old English

As an English surname, from Old English boga ("bow") plus dun ("hill"); as a Scottish surname, from a place in Roxburghshire.

bowel

Latin

From Old French boiel, ultimately from Latin botellus, "little sausage" — the same root as botulism.

Bowen

Welsh

From Welsh ap Owain, meaning "son of Owen."

bower

Old English

From Old English bur, "dwelling" or "room," related to German Bauer, "birdcage."

bowery

Dutch

From "bower" (a shaded, leafy shelter) plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y". The New York neighborhood The Bowery took its name from the Dutch word for a farm.

Bowie

Origin · 1800

Named after Jim Bowie, the 19th-century American frontiersman associated with this style of large hunting knife.

bowl

Old English

From Old English "bolla" or "bolle," meaning a cup or round vessel, going back to a Germanic root meaning "ball" or "round object."