A- (3) prefix meaning "not," from Gk a-, an- "not," from pie base *ne "not" (see un-)

barren --- c.1300, from O.Fr. baraigne "barren" (12c.), perhaps originally brahain, of obscure derivation, perhaps from a Gmc. language. Originally used of women in England, of land in France.

barrette --- bar clip for women's hair, 1901, from Fr., dim. of barre "bar."

barricade (v.) --- 1592, from M.Fr. barricader "to barricade" (1558), from barrique, "barrel," itself from Sp. barrica "barrel," perhaps from barra "bar." Extended to "improvised rampart" in 1588 Huguenot riots in Paris, when large barrels filled with earth and stones were set up in the streets. The noun is attested from 1642, earlier barricado (1590).

barrier --- c.1325, from O.Fr. barriere "obstacle," from barre "bar" (see bar). First record of barrier reef is from 1805.

barrio --- 1841, "ward of a Spanish or Sp.-speaking city," sometimes also used of rural settlements, from Sp. barrio "district, suburb," from Arabic barriya "open country" (fem.), from barr "outside" (of the city). Main modern sense of "Sp.-speaking district in a U.S. city" is 1939; original reference is to Spanish Harlem in New York City.

barrister --- 1545, "a student of law who has been called to the bar," from bar (q.v.) in the legal sense. Also see attorney.

barrow (1) --- vehicle for carrying a load, c.1300, barewe, probably from an unrecorded O.E. *bearwe "basket, barrow," from beran "to bear, to carry."

barrow (2) --- mound, O.E. beorg (W.Saxon), berg (Anglian) "hill," from P.Gmc. *bergaz (cf. O.S., O.Fris., O.H.G. berg "mountain," O.N. bjarg "rock"), from PIE base *bheregh- "high, elevated" (cf. O.C.S. bregu "mountain, height," O.Ir. brigh "mountain," Skt. b'rhant "high," O.Pers. bard- "be high"). Obsolete except in place-names and southwest England dialect by 1400; revived by archaeology. Barrow-wight first recorded 1891.

barter (v.) --- c.1440, from O.Fr. barater "to barter, cheat" (1373), of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Celtic language (cf. Ir. brath "treachery"). Connection between "trading" and "cheating" exists in several languages. The noun is first recorded 1592.

Bartholomew --- masc. proper name, from O.Fr. Barthelemieu, from L. Bartholomæus, from Gk. Bartholomaios, from Aramaic bar Talmay, lit. "son of Talmai," from the proper name Talmai, "abounding in furrows." One of the 12 Apostles, his festival is Aug. 24. On this date in 1572 took place the massacre of Protestants in France. Bartholomew Fair was held annually from 1133 to 1855 at West Smithfield.

basal --- relating to a base, 1828 (see base).

basalt --- 1601, from L.L. basaltes, misspelling of L. basanites "very hard stone," from Gk. basanites "a species of slate used to test gold," from basanos "touchstone." Not connected with salt. Said by Pliny ["Historia," 36.58] to be an African word, perhaps Egypt. bauhan "slate."

base (adj.) --- 1393, from O.Fr. bas, from L.L. bassus "thick, stumpy, low," possibly from Oscan, or Celtic, or related to Gk. basson, comp. of bathys "deep." Figurative sense of "low in the moral scale" is first attested 1535, earlier "servile" (1523). Base metals (1607) were worthless in contrast to noble or precious metals.

base (n.) --- c.1325, from O.Fr. bas, from L. basis "foundation," from Gk. basis "step, pedestal," from bainein "to step" (see come). The military sense is from 1860. The chemical sense (1810) was introduced in Fr. 1754 by Fr. chemist Guillaume-François Rouelle (1703-70). The verb meaning "to place on a foundation" is from 1841.

baseball --- 1845, Amer.Eng., from base (n.) + ball. Earlier references, e.g. in Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," refer to the game of "rounders," of which baseball is a more elaborate variety. Legendarily invented 1839 by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, N.Y. Base was used for "start or finish line of a race" from 1695; and the sense of "safe spot" found in modern children's game of tag can be traced to 14c. The sense in baseball is from 1868. Fig. sense get to first base "make a start" (1938) is from baseball.

basement --- lowest story of a building except the cellar, 1730, from base (n.).

bash --- to strike violently, 1641, perhaps of Scand. origin (cf. Swed. basa "to baste, whip, flog, lash," Da. baske "to beat, strike, cudgel"), from O.N. *basca "to strike;" or the whole group may be independently derived and echoic. Fig. sense of "abuse verbally or in writing" is from 1948. On a bash "on a drunken spree" is slang from 1901, which gave the word its sense of "party."

bashful --- 1548, from baishen "abash" (c.1340), from O.Fr. baissier "bring down, humiliate" (see abash).

basic --- 1842, from base (n.).

BASIC --- computer language, 1964, acronym for Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code; invented by J.G. Kemeny and T.E. Kurtz.

basil --- aromatic shrubby plant, c.1420, from O.Fr. basile, from M.L. basilicum, from Gk. basilikon (phyton) "royal (plant)," from basileus "king," of unknown origin, possibly from a language of Asia Minor (cf. Lydian battos "king"). So called, probably, because it was believed to have been used in making royal perfumes. In L., confused with basiliscus (see basilisk) because it was supposed to be an antidote to the basilisk's venom.

Basil --- masc. proper name, from Gk. Basileios "kingly, royal," from basileus "king."

basilica --- 1541, from L. basilica "building of a court of justice," and, by extension, church built on the plan of one, from Gk. (stoa) basilike "royal (portal)," the portico of the archon basileus, the official who dispensed justice in Athens, from basileus "king" (see basil). In Rome, applied specifically to the seven principal churches founded by Constantine.

basilisk --- c.1300, from L. basiliscus, from Gk. basiliskos "little king," dim. of basileus "king;" said to have been so called because of a crest or spot on its head resembling a crown. "The basilisk has since the fourteenth century been confused with the Cockatrice, and the subject is now a complicated one." [T.H.White] Its breath and glance were said to be fatal. The South American lizard so called (1813) because it, like the mythical beast, has a crest. Also used of a large cannon, throwing shot of 200 lb., in 1549.

basin --- c.1220, from O.Fr. bacin, from V.L. *baccinum, from L. bacca "water vessel," perhaps originally Gaulish. Meaning "large-scale artificial water-holding landscape feature" is from 1712. Geological sense of "tract of country drained by one river or draining into one sea" is from 1830.

basis --- 1571, from L. basis "foundation," from Gk. basis "a step, stand, base," from bainein "go, step" (see come).

bask --- 1393, basken "to wallow (in blood)," from O.N. baðask reflex. of baða "bathe" (see bathe). Modern meaning "soak up a flood of warmth" is apparently due to Shakespeare's use of the word in reference to sunshine in "As You Like It" (1600).

Baskerville --- typeface style, 1802, named for John Baskerville (1706-75), type-founder and printer.

basket --- 1229, from Anglo-Fr. bascat, origin obscure despite much speculation. Said by the Roman poet Martial to be from Celtic British and perhaps cognate with L. fascis "bundle, faggot," in which case it probably originally meant "wicker basket." But there is no evidence of such a word in Celtic. Basket case is 1919, Amer.Eng., originally a literal reference to quadriplegic veterans of World War I. Fig. sense of "person emotionally unable to cope" is from 1967.

basketball --- 1892, Amer.Eng., from basket + ball. The game was invented 1891 by J.A. Naismith, physical education instructor in Springfield, Mass.

Basque --- 1817, from Sp. vasco (adj.), from vascon (n.), from L. Vascones, said to originally mean "foresters" but more likely a Latinized version of the people's name for themselves, euskara or eskuara. "This contains a basic element -sk- which is believed to relate to maritime people or sailors, and which is also found in the name of the Etruscans .... [Room, "Placenames of the World," 2006] Vasconia was the Roman name for the up-country of the western Pyrenees. Earlier adj. in Eng. was Basquish (1612).

bas-relief --- 1667, from It. basso-rilievo "low relief, raised work," influenced by Fr. form bas-relief, which is from the It. term.

bass (adj.) --- low (voice or instrument, ranging from the E flat below the bass stave to the F above it), c.1390, originally base, infl. by It. basso, from L.L. bassus "short, low," possibly from Oscan. Meaning "bass-viol" is from 1702; that of "double-bass" is from 1927.

bass (n.) --- fish, 15c. corruption of O.E. bærs "a fish, perch," from P.Gmc. base *bars- "sharp" (cf. M.Du. baerse, M.H.G. bars, Ger. Barsch "perch," Ger. barsch "rough"), from PIE base *bhors- "bristle." The fish was so called for its dorsal fins.

basset --- short-legged dog, 1616, from Fr. basset, from O.Fr. bas "low" + dim. suffix.

bassinet --- wicker cradle, 1854, from Fr. bercelonette double dim. of berceau "cradle," altered by bassin "basin."

bassoon --- 1727, from Fr. basson, from It. bassone, augmentative of basso (see bass (adj.)).

bast --- inner bark of the linden tree, O.E. bæst, a general Gmc. word, of unknown origin.

bastard --- 1223, "illegitimate child," from O.Fr., "child of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife," probably from fils de bast "packsaddle son," meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (saddles often doubled as beds while traveling), with pejorative ending -art. Alternate possibly is that the word is from P.Gmc. *banstiz "barn," equally suggestive of low origin. Not always regarded as a stigma; the Conqueror is referred to in state documents as "William the Bastard." Figurative sense is from 1552; use as a vulgar term of abuse for a man is attested from 1830. Bastardize "debase" is from 1587.

baste (1) --- sew together loosely, c.1440, from O.Fr. bastir, from Frank. *bastjan "to sew or bind with bast," from P.Gmc. *bastjan "join together with bast" (see bast).

baste (2) --- to soak in gravy, moisten, 1509, possibly from O.Fr. basser "to moisten," from bassin "basin."

Bastille --- 14c. Paris prison destroyed by revolutionaries on July 14, 1789, lit. "fortress, tower" (see bastion).

bastinado --- 1577, from Sp. bastonada "a beating, cudgeling," from baston "stick," from L.L. bastum, probably from Gk. *baston "support."

bastion --- 1562, from M.Fr. bastillon, dim. of O.Fr. bastille "fortress, tower," from O.Prov. bastir "build," orig. "make with bast" (see baste (1)).

bat (n1.) --- a stick, O.E. *batt "cudgel," perhaps from Celtic (cf. Ir. and Gael. bat, bata "staff, cudgel"), infl. by O.Fr. batte, from L.L. battre "beat," all from PIE base *bhat- "to strike." As a kind of paddle used to play cricket, it is attested from 1706.

bat (n2.) --- flying mammal (order Chiroptera), c.1575, a dialect alteration of M.E. bakke, which is prob. rel. to O.Sw. natbakka, O.Dan. nathbakkæ "night bat," and O.N. leðrblaka "leather flapper," so orig. sense is likely "flapper." The shift from -k- to -t- may have come through confusion with bakke "nocturnal insect," from L. blatta "moth." O.E. word for the animal was hreremus, from hreran "to shake." Batty "nuts" is attested from 1903.

bat (v.) --- to move the eyelids, 1847, Amer.Eng., from earlier sense of "flutter as a hawk" (1615), a variant of bate (2) on the notion of fluttering wings.

Bat Mitzvah --- 1950, lit. "daughter of command;" a Jewish girl who has reached age 12, the age of religious majority. Extended to the ceremony held on occasion of this.

Batavia --- former name of Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, when it was the Dutch East Indies, a colony of the Netherlands; from Batavia, an ancient name for a region of Holland, from L. Batavi, a people who dwelt between the Rhine and the Waal on the island of Betawe.

batch --- O.E. *bæcce "something baked," from bacan "bake." Batch is to bake as watch is to wake and match ("one of a pair") is to make. Extended 1713 to "any quantity produced at one operation."

bate (1) --- to reduce, to lessen in intensity, c.1300, aphetic of abate (q.v.). Now only in phrase bated breath, which was first used by Shakespeare in "The Merchant of Venice" (1596).

bate (2) --- c.1300, "to contend with blows or arguments," from O.Fr. batre, from L.L. battere, from L. batuere (see batter (v.)). In falconry, "to beat the wings impatiently and flutter away from the perch." Figurative sense of "to flutter downward" attested from 1590.

bath --- O.E. bæð "immersing in water, mud, etc.," also "quantity of water, etc., for bathing," from P.Gmc. *batham (cf. O.N. bað, M.Du. bat, Ger. bad), from PIE base *bhe- "to warm" (cf. L. fovere "to foment"). Original sense was of heating, not immersing in water. The city in Somerset, England (O.E. Baðun) was so called from its hot springs. Bathtub gin first recorded 1930. Bathroom is first recorded 1780, originally a room with apparatus for bathing, now often euphemistic for lavatory.

bathe --- O.E. baþian, from root of bath (q.v.), with different vowel sound due to i-mutation.

bathos --- anticlimax, a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous, 1727, from Gk. bathos "depth," related to bathys "deep;" introduced by Pope. Bathetic (1834) is either erroneously or humorously formed on the model of pathetic.

Bathsheba --- Biblical wife of King David, mother of Solomon, from Heb. Bathshebha, lit. "daughter of the oath," from bath "daughter."

bathukolpian --- big-breasted, 1825, from Gk. bathykolpos, lit. "deep-bosomed," from bathys "deep" + kolpos "breast."

bathyscaphe --- diving apparatud for reaching great depths, 1947, name coined by its inventor, Swiss "scientific extremist" Prof. Auguste Piccard, from Gk. bathys "deep" + skaphe "boat."

batik --- 1880, from Du., from Malay mbatik "writing, drawing."

baton --- 1548, "a staff used as a weapon," from Fr. batôn, from O.Fr. baston, from L.L. bastum "stout staff," prob. of Gaulish origin. Meaning "staff carried as a symbol of office" is from 1590; musical sense of "conductor's wand" is from 1867. Baton Rouge, La., is a Fr. translation of Choctaw itti homma "red pole," perhaps in ref. to a painted boundary marker.

battalion --- 1589, from M.Fr. bataillon, from It. battaglione "battle squadron," from dim. of V.L. battalia "battle," from L. bauttere "to beat" (see batter (v.)). Specific sense of "part of a regiment" is from 1708. "Madame, lui répondit-il, ne vous y fiez pas: j'ay tôujours vû Dieu do coté des gros Batallions." [E.Boursault, 1702]

batten (n.) --- strip of wood (especially used to fasten canvas over ships' hatches), 1658, Anglicized version of baton "a stick, a staff" (see baton).

batten (v.) --- to fatten, 1591, probably representing a dial. survival of O.N. batna "improve" (cf. O.E. batian, O.Fris. batia, O.H.G. bazen, Goth. gabatnan "to become better, avail, benefit," O.E. bet "better;" cf. also boot (v.)).

Battenberg --- type of cake, 1903, from name of a town in Germany, the seat of a family which became known in Britain as Mountbatten.

batter (n.) --- flour and milk, 1381, from O.Fr. batteure "a beating," from L. battuere (see batter (v.)).

batter (v.) --- strike repeatedly, c.1330, from O.Fr. battre "to beat, strike," from L. battuere "to beat," an old word in Latin, but almost certainly borrowed from Gaulish, from PIE base *bhau- "to strike" (cf. Welsh bathu "beat;" O.E. beadu "battle," beatan "to beat," bytl "hammer, mallet"). Began to be widely used 1962 in reference to domestic abuse. Battering-ram is an ancient weapon (L. aries), but the word attested only from 1611.

battery --- 1531, "action of battering," from M.Fr. batterie, from O.Fr. baterie, from batre "beat," from L. bauttere "beat" (see batter (v.)). Meaning shifted in M.Fr. from "bombardment" ("heavy blows" upon city walls or fortresses) to "unit of artillery" (a sense recorded in Eng. from 1555). Extension to "electrical cell" (1748, first used by Ben Franklin) is perhaps via notion of "discharges" of electricity. In obs. baseball jargon battery was the word for "pitcher and catcher" considered as a unit (1867).

batting --- sheets of cotton fiber, 1875, variant of obs. bat "felted mass of fur, wool, etc.," from bat (n1.), on notion of "beaten" fabric.

battle --- 1297, from O.Fr. bataille, from L.L. battualia "exercise of soldiers and gladiators in fighting and fencing," from L. battuere "beat" (see batter (v.)). Phrase battle royal "fight involving several combatants" is from 1672.

battle-axe --- c.1380, "weapon of war;" meaning "formidable woman" is U.S. slang, first recorded 1896.

battlement --- c.1325, from O.Fr. batillement, earlier bastillement "fortification," from bastillier "fortify," from bastille "fortress, tower" (see bastion). The raised parts are cops or merlons; the indentations are embrasures or crenelles.

battleship --- 1794, shortened from line-of-battle ship (1705), one large enough to take part in a main attack (formerly one of 74-plus guns). Battleship-gray as a color is attested from 1916. Fighter and bomber airplanes in World War I newspaper articles were sometimes called battleplanes, but it did not catch on.

battology --- 1603, "needless repetition in speaking or writing," from Gk. battologia "a speaking stammeringly," from battos "stammerer" + -logia, from -logos "one who speaks (in a certain manner)."

bauble --- c.1320, from O.Fr. baubel "child's toy, trinket," probably a reduplication of bel, from L. bellus "pretty."

baud --- 1932, originally a unit of speed in telegraphy, coined in Fr. 1929 in honor of Fr. inventor and engineer J.M.E. Baudot (1845-1903), who designed a telegraph printing system.

Bauhaus --- 1923, from Ger., lit. "architecture-house;" school of design founded in Weimar, Germany, 1919 by Walter Gropius (1883-1969), later extended to the principles it embodied. First element is bau "building, construction, structure," from O.H.G. buan "to dwell" (see bound (adj.2)). For second element, see (see house).

bauxite --- 1861, clayey mineral containing aluminum, from Fr., from Les Baux, near Soles, where it was first found. The place name is from Prov. Li Baus, lit. "the precipices."

bawd --- a complicated word of uncertain history. First attested 1483, "lewd person" (of either sex; since c.1700 applied only to women), probably from baude-strote "procurer of prostitutes" (1362), which may be from M.E. bawde (adj.) "merry, joyous," from O.Fr. baud "gay, licentious" (from Frank. bald "bold"). It would not be the first time a word meaning "joyous" had taken on a sexual sense. The O.Fr. word also is the source of Fr. baudet "donkey," in Picardy dialect "loose woman." The second element in baude-strote would be trot "one who runs errands," or Gmc. *strutt (see strut). But OED doubts all this. There was an O.Fr. baudetrot of the same meaning (13c.), and this may be the direct source of M.E. baude-strote. The obsolete word bronstrops "procuress," frequently found in Middleton's comedies, probably is an alt. of baude-strote Bawdry "obscenity" (c.1374) is probably from O.Fr. bauderie "boldness." Bawdy is 1513, "of, pertaining to, or befitting a bawd;" usually of language (originally to talk bawdy). "Bawdy Basket, the twenty-third rank of canters, who carry pins, tape, ballads and obscene books to sell." [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785]

bawl --- c.1440, from O.N. baula "to low like a cow," and/or M.L. baulare "to bark like a dog," both echoic. To bawl (someone) out "reprimand loudly" is 1908, Amer.Eng.

bay (1) --- inlet of the sea, 1385, from O.Fr. baie, L.L. baia (c.640), from Iberian bahia.

bay (2) --- opening in a wall, c.1325 (especially bay window, 1405), from O.Fr. baee, pp. of bayer "to gape, yawn," from M.L. batare "gape," perhaps of imitative origin. Sick-bay "forepart of a ship's main deck used as a hospital" is from 1582, from the notion of a recessed space.

bay (3) --- howl of a hound (especially when hunting), c.1300, from O.Fr. bayer, from PIE base *bai- echoic of howling (cf. Gk. bauzein, L. baubari "to bark," Eng. bow-wow; cf. also bawl). Noun meaning "cornering of a hunted animal" is also 14c. At bay (1649) is from special sense of "chorus raised by hounds in conflict with quarry."

bay (4) --- reddish-brown, 1341, from Anglo-Fr. bai, from O.Fr. bai, from L. badius "chestnut-brown" (used only of horses), from PIE *badyo- "yellow, brown" (cf. O.Ir. buide "yellow"). Also elliptical for a horse of this color.

bay (5) --- shrub (Laurus nobilis, source of the bay leaf), 1373, originally only of the berry, from O.Fr. baie "berry, seed," from L. baca "berry." Extension to the shrub itself is from 1530. The leaves or sprigs were woven as wreaths for conquerors or poets. Bayberry first recorded 1578.

Bayard --- generic or mock-heroic name for a horse, c.1374, from O.Fr. Baiard, name of the bay-colored magic steed given by Charlemagne to Renaud in the legends, from O.Fr. baiart "bay-colored" (see bay (4)). The name was also used attributively of gentlemen of courage and integrity, from Pierre du Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473-1524), Fr. knight celebrated as Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche, however the meaning deteriorated in later times till it came to denote blind recklessness and actual blindness. The surname is perhaps in reference to hair color.

bayonet --- 1611, from Fr. baionnette, said to be from Bayonne, city in France where they were first made, or perhaps a dim. of O.Fr. bayon "crossbow bolt."

bayou --- 1766, via Louisiana Fr., from Choctaw bayuk "small stream."

bazaar --- 1588, from It. bazarra, from Pers. bazar (Pahlavi vacar) "a market."

bazooka --- metal tube rocket launcher, 1942, from name of a junkyard musical instrument used (c.1935) as a prop by U.S. comedian Bob Burns (1896-1956), extension of bazoo, slang for "mouth" or "boastful talk" (1877), probably from Du. bazuin "trumpet."

bazooms --- woman's breasts, 1955, Amer.Eng. slang alteration of bosoms.

be --- O.E. beon, beom, bion "be, exist, come to be, become," from P.Gmc. *beo-, *beu-. Roger Lass ("Old English") describes the verb as "a collection of semantically related paradigm fragments," while Weekley calls it "an accidental conglomeration from the different Old English dial[ect]s." It is the most irregular verb in Mod.E. and the most common. Collective in all Gmc. languages, it has eight different forms in Mod.E.: BE (infinitive, subjunctive, imperative), AM (present 1st person singular), ARE (present 2nd person singular and all plural), IS (present 3rd person singular), WAS (past 1st and 3rd persons singular), WERE (past 2nd person singular, all plural; subjunctive), BEING (progressive & present participle; gerund), BEEN (perfect participle). The modern verb represents the merger of two once-distinct verbs, the "b-root" represented by be and the am/was verb, which was itself a conglomerate. The "b-root" is from PIE base *bheu-, *bhu- "grow, come into being, become," and in addition to Eng. it yielded Ger. present first and second person sing. (bin, bist, from O.H.G. bim "I am," bist "thou art"), L. perf. tenses of esse (fui "I was," etc.), O.C.S. byti "be," Gk. phu- "become," O.Ir. bi'u "I am," Lith. bu'ti "to be," Rus. byt' "to be," etc. It is also behind Skt. bhavah "becoming," bhavati "becomes, happens," bhumih "earth, world." The paradigm in O.E. was: "1st pres. ic beo - SING. ic eom

1st pres. we beoð - SING. we sind(on)

2nd pres. þu bist - SING. þu eart

2nd pres. ge beoð - SING. ge sind(on)

3rd pres. he bið - SING. he is

3rd pres. hie beoð - SING. hie sind(on)

1st pret.

2nd pret. - SING. ic wæs - PL. we wæron

3rd pret. - SING. þu wære - PL. ge waeron

1st pret. subj. - SING. heo wæs - PL. hie wæron

2nd pret. subj. - SING. ic wære - PL. we wæren

3rd pret. subj. - SING. þu wære - PL. ge wæren

The ""b-root"" had no past tense in O.E., but often served as future tense of am/was. In 13c. it took the place of the infinitive, participle and imperative forms of am/was. Later its plural forms (we beth, ye ben, they be) became standard in M.E. and it made inroads into the singular (I be, thou beest, he beth), but forms of are claimed this turf in the 1500s and replaced be in the plural. For the origin and evolution of the am/was branches of this tangle, see am and was. The phrase be-all and end all is from Shakespeare (""Macbeth"" I.vii.5). - SING. Egcferð wære - PL. hie wæren"