"B" Word Origins

brutal

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin brutalis (\"savage, stupid\"), from Latin brutus (\"dull, stupid\") — the same root that gives us \"brute.\"

brutality

Latin

Built from brutal plus the noun-forming suffix -ity, tracing back to the same Latin brutus (\"dull, stupid\") root.

brutally

Origin

From brutal plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

brute

Latin

From Latin brutus (\"dull, stupid, insensible\"), the same root behind \"brutal\" and \"brutish.\"

brutish

Origin

Formed from brute plus the adjective suffix -ish.

Brutus

Origin

Named after the Roman Brutus, a name associated with the classical Roman look the hairstyle imitated.

bruv

Origin

A shortened, informal pronunciation of \"brother.\"

bry

Origin

Borrowed from French Bry.

Bryn

Welsh

From Welsh bryn, meaning "hill, mound."

Brynn

Origin

Variant of Bryn.

bryony

Ancient Greek

From Latin bryonia, from Ancient Greek bryonia, related to bryo (\"to swell\" or \"sprout\").

bryophyte

Origin

Borrowed from translingual Bryophyta, from Ancient Greek βρύον (brúon, “moss”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant”) ( + -phyte).

Bryson

Origin

From Brice plus -son.

bsf

English

An initialism of best friend, used in online messaging and social media.

btw

English

An initialism of by the way.

bub

Origin

Likely imitative of a young child's attempt to say "brother," related to "bubba."

bubba

Origin

Probably a child's simplified pronunciation of "brother," related to "bub."

bubbe

Origin

Borrowed from Yiddish באָבע (bobe, “grandmother”), and then either from a Slavic language or from eastern Middle High German bābe (“old woman”), both from Proto-Slavic *baba (“old woman”) and ultimately imitative of a child’s babbling. Doublet of baba.

bubber

Old English

From Old English, related to old words for drinking or swigging.

bubble

Origin · 1720

Likely imitative of the sound bubbles make, related to "burble." The financial sense dates to the 1720 collapse of the South Sea Company, compared to an inflated soap bubble bursting.

bubblegum

Origin

A compound of bubble and gum, named for the gum's ability to be blown into bubbles.

bubblehead

Origin

* From bubble + head. * (diver): Inspired by the shape of the old spun-copper diving helmet.

bubblingly

Origin

From bubbling + -ly.

bubbly

Origin

From bubble plus the adjective suffix -y.

bubby

Origin

Likely a babyish or affectionate coinage, related to "bub" and "bubba."

bubonic

Latin

From Latin bubo (a swelling, or "bubo") plus the adjective suffix -ic.

buccaneer

French

From French boucanier, someone who smoked meat on a boucan (grill), from the Tupi word mboka'e — the name shifted from meat-smokers to the pirates who adopted their lifestyle in the Caribbean.

buchannon

Origin

Variant of Buchanan.

Bucharest

Romanian

From Romanian București, from Bucur (a personal name) plus -ești (a patronymic suffix).

Buchman

Origin

Variant of Buchmann.

buck

Old English

From Old English bucca ("he-goat, stag"). The dollar sense comes from "buckskin," once used as a unit of trade among American frontier traders.

buckaroo

Spanish

An Americanized adaptation of Spanish vaquero ("cowboy"), reshaped under the influence of the English word "buck."

bucket

Old English

From Middle English buket/boket, partly from Old English bucc ("pitcher") and partly from Anglo-Norman buket ("pail"), ultimately traced to a Frankish word for "belly, stomach."

bucket list

English

From the idiom kick the bucket, meaning to die; a bucket list is a list of things to do before then.

bucketful

Origin

From bucket + -ful. Compare Old English būcful, būcfull (“bucketful”).

bucketload

Origin

From bucket + load.

buckeye

Origin

The name stems from Native Americans, who called the nut "hetuck," which means "buck eye" (because the markings on the nut resemble the eye of a deer).

Buckingham

Old English

From Old English Buccingahām, from a personal name Bucca plus -ing ("belonging to") and hām ("home").

Buckland

Old English

From Old English bōc ("book") + land ("land"), originally land held by charter.

buckle

Latin

From Old French boucle ("metal ring for fastening"), from Latin buccula ("cheek strap of a helmet"), ultimately from bucca ("cheek"). The sense of collapsing under pressure likely grew out of an older meaning "to prepare oneself for battle" (as in strapping on armor).

buckler

Origin

From Middle English bukler, bokler, bokeler, bokeleer, from Old French bocler, boucler, bucler, (French bouclier) from Vulgar Latin *bucculārius (“bossed”), from Latin buccula (“boss”). Merged with buckle + -er.

Buckley

Old English

From Old English bucca ("he-goat") + lēah ("woodland clearing").

buckling

Latin

Formed from the verb "buckle" plus the "-ing" ending; "buckle" itself comes from Old French "bocle," a shield boss, from Latin "buccula," a small cheek or cheek-strap.

Buckman

Origin

From either of two derivations: # Old English bucca (“he-goat”) + mann (“man”), to denote a goat-keeper. # Old English bōc (“book”) + mann (“man”), to denote a student or scholar, or else a book-copier or bookbinder.

bucko

Origin

From "buck" (a spirited or adventurous young man) plus the informal "-o" ending, similar to "kiddo."

Bucks

German

Probably an altered spelling of German Buchs or a patronymic form of Buck.

buckshot

Origin

A straightforward compound of "buck" (deer) and "shot" — shot sized for hunting deer.

buckwheat

German

From Middle Low German "bōkwēte," literally "beech-wheat" — its triangular seeds resemble small beechnuts, though the plant is not actually related to wheat.