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

brobdingnag --- (not brobdignag), 1727, Swift's name in "Gulliver's Travels" for imaginary country where everything was on a gigantic scale.

brocade --- 1563, from Sp. brocado, from It. broccato "embossed cloth," orig. pp. of broccare "to stud, set with nails," from brocco "small nail," from L. broccus "projecting, pointed."

broccoli --- 1699, from It., pl. of broccolo "a sprout, cabbage sprout," dim. of brocco "shoot, protruding tooth, small nail" (see brocade).

brochure --- 1748, from Fr. brochure "a stitched work," from brocher "to stitch" (sheets together), from O.Fr. brocher "to prick," from broche "pointed tool, awl" (see broach).

brock --- O.E. brocc "badger," a borrowing from Celtic (cf. O.Ir. brocc, Welsh broch). After c.1400, often with the adjective stinking, and meaning "a low, dirty fellow."

brogue --- accent, 1705, perhaps from the meaning "rough, stout shoe" worn by rural Irish and Scottish highlanders (1586), via Gaelic or Irish, from O.Ir. broce "shoe," thus, probably, originally meaning something like "speech of those who call a shoe a brogue." Or perhaps it is from O.Ir. barrog "a hold" (on the tongue).

broil (1) --- cook, 1375, from O.Fr. bruller "to broil, roast," from brosler "to burn," from L. ustulare "to scorch, singe," from ustus, pp. of urere "to burn." Alt. by infl. of Gmc. "burn" words beginning in br-.

broil (2) --- quarrel, 1402, from Anglo-Fr. broiller "mix up, confuse," O.Fr. brooillier, probably from breu, bro "broth, brew," from Frankish or another Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. brod "broth") akin to broth (see brew); also compare imbroglio.

broke --- obsolete pp. of break (variant of broken); extension to "insolvent" is first recorded 1716 (broken, in this sense, is attested from 1593). By coincidence, O.E. cognate broc meant, in addition to "that which breaks," "affliction, misery;" but that sense died out long before the current one began.

broker --- 1377, from Anglo-Norm. brocour "small trader," from Anglo-Fr. abrokur "retailer of wine, tapster," perhaps Port. alborcar "barter," but more likely O.Fr. brocheor, from brochier "to broach, tap, pierce (a keg)," from broche "pointed tool" (see broach (n.)), giving original sense of "wine dealer," hence "retailer, middleman, agent." In M.E., used contemptuously of peddlers and pimps.

bromide --- 1836, from bromine, the pungent, poisonous element (1827), from Fr. brome, from Gk. bromos "stench." Used as a sedative; figurative sense of "dull, conventional person or trite saying" popularized by U.S. humorist Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) in his book "Are You a Bromide?" (1906).

bromine --- nonmetallic element, 1827, from Fr. brome, coined by its discoverer, Fr. chemist Antoine Jérôme Balard (1802-76) from Gk. bromos "stench."

bronchial --- c.1735, from L.L. bronchus, from Gk. bronchos "windpipe, throat." Bronchitis is from 1814, coined in Mod.L. 1808 by Charles Bedham (see -itis).

bronco --- 1850, Amer.Eng., "untamed or half-tamed horse," from Sp. bronco "rough, rude," originally a noun meaning "a knot in wood," perhaps from V.L. *bruncus "a knot, projection," apparently from a cross of L. broccus "projecting" + truncus "trunk of a tree."

brontosaurus --- 1879, Mod.L., from Gk. bronte "thunder" + sauros "lizard." Brontes was the name of one of the Cyclopes in Gk. mythology.

Bronx --- named for Jonas Bronck, Dane who settled there in 1641. Bronx cheer first recorded 1929.

bronze --- 1721, "alloy of copper and tin," from Fr. bronze, from It. bronzo, from M.L. bronzium. Perhaps cognate (via notion of color) with Venetian bronza "glowing coals," or Ger. brunst "fire." Perhaps influenced by L. Brundisium the It. town of Brindisi (Pliny writes of aes Brundusinum). Perhaps ultimately from Pers. birinj "copper." In M.E., the distinction between bronze (copper-tin alloy) and brass (copper-zinc alloy) was not clear, and both were called bras. A bronze medal was given to a third-place finisher since at least 1852. The Bronze Age (1865) falls between the Stone and Iron ages, and is a reference to the principal material for making weapons and ornaments.

brooch --- c.1225, from O.Fr. broche "long needle" (see broach (n.)). Specialized meaning led 14c. to distinct spelling.

brood --- O.E. brod, from P.Gmc. *brod (cf. M.Du. broet, O.H.G. bruot), lit. "that which is hatched by heat," from *bro- "to warm, heat," from PIE *bhre- "burn, heat, incubate," from base *bhreue- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn" (see brew). The verbal figurative meaning ("to incubate in the mind") is first recorded 1571, from notion of "nursing" one's anger, resentment, etc.

brook (n.) --- small stream, O.E. broc "flowing stream," of obscure origin, probably from P.Gmc. *broka- which yielded words in Ger. (Bruch) and Du. (broek) that have a sense of "marsh." In Sussex and Kent, it means "water-meadow," and in plural, "low, marshy ground."

brook (v.) --- to endure, O.E. bruccan "use," from P.Gmc. *bruk- "to make use of, enjoy" (cf. Ger. brauchen "to use"), from PIE base *bhrug- "to make use of, have enjoyment of" (cf. L. fructus). Sense of "use" applied to food led to "be able to digest," and by 16c. to "tolerate."

broom --- O.E. brom the common flowering shrub whose twigs were tied together to make a tool for sweeping, from P.Gmc. *bræmaz "thorny bush" (cf. Du. braam, Ger. Brombeere "blackberry"), from PIE base *bh(e)rem- "to project, a point." Both the flowers and sweeping with broom twigs were traditionally considered unlucky in May (Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire, etc.). The witch's flying broomstick was originally also many other objects (pitchfork, trough, bowl), but the broomstick became the popular image via engravings from a famous Lancashire witch trial of 1612.

broth --- O.E. broþ, from P.Gmc. *bruthan, from verb root *bhreue- "to heat, boil, bubble, liquid in which something has been boiled" (cf. O.E. breowan "to brew;" see brew). Picked up from Gmc. by the Romantic and Celtic languages.

brothel --- bawdy house, c.1593, shortened from brothel-house, from brothel "prostitute" (1493), earlier "vile person" (of either sex), 14c., from O.E. broðen pp. of breoðan "deteriorate, go to ruin," from P.Gmc. *breuthanan, var. of *breutanan "to break." In 16c. brothel-house was confused with unrelated bordel (see bordello) and shifted meaning from a person to a place.

brother --- O.E. broþor, from P.Gmc. *brothar, from PIE base *bhrater (cf. Gk. phratér, L. frater, O.Ir. brathir, Skt. bhrátár-, O.Pers. brata, Goth. bróþar, O.Prus. brati, O.C.S. bratru "brother"). As a familiar term of address from one man to another, it is attested from 1912 in U.S. slang; the specific use among blacks is recorded from 1973. Alternate pl. brethren was predominant c.1200-1600s, but survived only in religious usage. Colloquial shortening bro is attested from 1666. Brotherhood is M.E. broiþerhede (c.1300). In Arabic, Urdu, Swahili, etc., brother-in-law, when addressed to a male who is not a brother-in-law, is an extreme insult, with implications of "I slept with your sister."

Brother Jonathan --- sobriquet for "United States," 1816, is often derived from Jonathan Trumbull (1740-1809) of Connecticut, who was often called Brother Jonathan by George Washington, who often sought his advice, somehow in ref. to 2 Sam i.26.

brougham --- 1851, one-horse closed carriage with two or four wheels, for two or four persons, from first Lord Brougham (1778-1868). The family name is from a place in Westmoreland.

brought --- p.t. of bring (q.v.).

brouhaha --- 1890, from Fr. brouhaha (1552), said to have been, in medieval theater, "the cry of the devil disguised as clergy." Perhaps from Heb. barukh habba' "blessed be the one who comes," used on public occasions.

brow --- words for "eyelid," "eyelash," and "eyebrow" changed about maddeningly in O.E. and M.E. (and in all the W.Gmc. languages). Linguists have untangled the knot into two strands: 1. O.E. bræw (Anglian *brew) "eyelid," from P.Gmc. *bræwi- "blinker, twinkler" (related to Goth. brahw "twinkle, blink," in phrase in brahwa augins "in the twinkling of an eye"); the sense must have shifted before the earliest recorded O.E. usage from "eyelash" to "eyelid." 2. O.E. bru "eyelash," from P.Gmc. *brus "eyebrow," from PIE base *bhrus (cf. Skt. bhrus "eyebrow," Gk. ophrys, O.C.S. bruvi, Lith. bruvis "brow," O.Ir. bru "edge"). The sense must have been transferred in O.E. at an early date from "eyebrow" to "eyelash." Lacking a distinctive word for it, the Anglo-Saxons called an eyebrow ofer-bru, and in early M.E. they were known as uvere breyhes or briges aboue þe eiges. By c.1200, everything had moved "up." Bru/brouw (from bræw) became "eyelid;" and brew/breow (from O.E. bru) became "eyebrow." It remained the word for "eyebrow" in Scot. and northern Eng., where it naturally evolved into colloquial bree. In southern Eng., however, M.E. bru/brouw took over the sense of "eyebrows," in the form brues, and yielded the usual modern form of the word. To make matters worse, if possible, some southern writers 15c.-17c. used bree for "eyelashes," in what OED calls "a curious reversion to what had been the original OE. sense of bru." By 1535, brow had been given an extended sense of "forehead," especially with ref. to movements and expressions that showed emotion or attitude. Browbeat "to bully" is first recorded 1581, originally "to bear down with stern or arrogant looks." When my son was learning to talk, he called them eyebrowns, but it has no connection to brown; the -n- in the O.N. (brun) and Ger. (braune) forms of the word are from a gen. pl. inflection.

brown --- O.E. brun "dark," only developing a definite color sense 13c., from P.Gmc. *brunaz, from PIE *bher- "shining, brown" (cf. Lith. beras "brown"), related to *bheros "dark animal" (cf. beaver, bear, and Gk. phrynos "toad," lit. "the brown animal"). The O.E. word also had a sense of "brightness, shining," now preserved only in burnish. The Gmc. word was adopted into Romantic (cf. M.L. brunus, It., Sp. bruno, Fr. brun). Colloquial brown-nose (1939) is "from the implication that servility is tantamount to having one's nose in the anus of the person from whom advancement is sought" [Webster, 1961]. Brown Bess, slang name for old British Army flintlock musket, first recorded 1785.

Brown Shirt --- generic term for "Nazi, fascist," 1934, in ref. to the Ger. Sturmabteilung, Nazi militia founded 1921; called Brown Shirts in Eng. from 1922, in ref. to their uniforms.

Brownian movement --- 1871, for Dr. Robert Brown, who first described it.

brownie --- benevolent goblin supposed to haunt old farmhouses in Scotland, 1513, dim. of brown "a wee brown man" (see brown). The name for the junior branch of the Girl Guides or Girl Scouts is 1916, in ref. to uniform color. Brownie point (1963) is sometimes associated with Brownie in the Scouting sense, but is probably from brown-nose (see brown).

Browning --- one of a range of U.S.-made weapons, 1905, named for inventor, John M. Browning (1855-1926) of Utah.

browse --- 1523, "feed on buds," from M.Fr. brouster, from O.Fr. broster "to sprout, bud," from brost "young shoot, twig," probably from P.Gmc. *brustjan "to bud." Lost its final -t in Eng. on the mistaken notion that it was a pp. inflection. Figurative extension to "peruse" (books) is 1870s, Amer.Eng.

Bruce --- A Norman name, but etymology from Brix (place in La Manche, Normandy) is now considered doubtful ["Dictionary of English Surnames"]. Originated in Britain with Robert de Bruis, a baron listed in the Domesday Book. His son, a friend of David I, king of Scotland, was granted by him in 1124 the lordship of Annandale, and his second son Robert founded the Scottish House of Bruce.

brucellosis --- 1930, Mod.L., named for Scottish physician Sir David Bruce (1855-1931), who discovered the bacteria that caused it (1887).

bruin --- 1481, from M.Du. Bruin, name of the bear in "Reynard the Fox" fables; lit. "brown;" cognate with O.E. brun (see brown).

bruise --- O.E. brysan "to crush," from P.Gmc. *brusjanan, from PIE base *bhreus- "to smash, crush" (cf. O.Ir. bronnaim "I wrong, I hurt;" Bret. brezel "war," V.L. brisare "to break"). Merged by 17c. with Anglo-Fr. bruiser "to break, smash," from O.Fr. bruisier "to break, shatter," perhaps from Gaul. *brus-, from the same base. The noun is first recorded 1541. Bruiser "a boxer" is attested from 1744.

brumal --- belonging to winter, 1513, from L. brumalis lit. "shortest (day)," from bruma, contraction of *brevima "shortest," superl. of brevis "short." Source of Brumaire, second month (Oct. 22-Nov. 20) in calendar of the French Republic, lit. "the foggy month," coined 1793 by Fabre d'Eglantine from brume "fog," from L. bruma "winter."

brunch --- 1896, British student slang merger of breakfast and lunch. "To be fashionable nowadays we must 'brunch'. Truly an excellent portmanteau word, introduced, by the way, last year, by Mr. Guy Beringer, in the now defunct Hunter's Weekly, and indicating a combined breakfast and lunch." ["Punch," Aug. 1, 1896]

brunette --- 1669, from Fr. brunette, from O.Fr. brunet, fem. dim. of brun "brown," of Gmc. origin (see brown). The metathesized form, O.Fr. burnete, is the source of the surname Burnett. Burnete was also used of a wool-dyed cloth of superior quality, originally dark brown.

Bruno --- male proper name, from O.H.G., lit. "brown."

brunt --- c.1325, "a sharp blow," perhaps from O.N. brundr "sexual heat," or bruna "to advance like wildfire." Meaning "chief force" is first attested 1573.

brush (1) --- dust-sweeper, 1377, from O.Fr. broisse "a brush," probably from V.L. *bruscia "a bunch of new shoots" (used to sweep away dust), perhaps from P.Gmc. *bruskaz "underbrush." Brush off "rebuff, dismiss" is from 1941.

brush (2) --- shrubbery, 1330, from Anglo-Fr. bruce "brushwood," O.N.Fr. broche, O.Fr. brosse, from Gallo-Romance *brocia, perhaps from *brucus "heather," or possibly from the same source as brush (1). Brushfire is from 1850.

brusque --- 1651, from Fr. brusque "lively, fierce," from It. adj. brusco "sharp, tart, rough," perhaps from V.L. *bruscum "butcher's broom plant."

Brussels sprout --- 1748, from the Brassica oleracea gemmifera. First written description is from 1587.

brut (adj.) --- dry, 1891, used of wines, esp. champagnes, from Fr., lit. "raw, crude" (see brute).

brute (adj.) --- c.1460, "of or belonging to animals," from M.Fr. brut "coarse, brutal," from L. brutus "heavy, dull, stupid," an Oscan word, from PIE base *gwer- "heavy." Before reaching Eng. meaning expanded to "of the lower animals." Used of human beings from 1535. The noun is from 1611. Brutal in the sense of "cruel" is from 1641; earlier "rude, stupid" (1510); in the original animal sense it is from c.1450.

bryo- --- in scientific combinations, from Gk. bryon "moss."

Brythonic --- of the Britons, Welsh, 1884, from Welsh Brython, cognate with L. Britto (see Briton). Introduced by Professor John Rhys to avoid the confusion of using Briton/British with ref. to ancient peoples, religions, and languages.

BS --- c.1900, slang abbreviation of bullshit (q.v.).

bub --- familiar address for males, 1839, perhaps a variation of bud "a little boy" (1848), Amer.Eng. colloquial; perhaps from Ger. bube "boy," or from Eng. brother. The Southern U.S. slang bubba dates from 1860s, and is a corruption of brother.

bubble --- 1398, perhaps from M.Du. bobbel (n.) and/or M.L.G. bubbeln (v.), all probably of echoic origin. Bubble bath first recorded 1949; bubble-gum is from 1937. Of financial schemes originally in South Sea Bubble (1599), on notion of "fragile and insubstantial." Bubbly "champagne" is attested from 1920, shortened from bubbly water (1910).

bubonic --- characterized by swelling in the groin, 1871, from L. bubo (gen. bubonis) "swelling of lymph glands" (in the groin), from Gk. boubon "groin." The noun bubo used in Eng. for the plague symptom from late 1398.

buccaneer --- 1661, from Fr. boucanier "user of a boucan," a native grill for roasting meat (Haitian var. barbacoa, see barbecue), from Tupi mukem (rendered in Port. as moquem c.1587). Originally used of French settlers working as hunters and woodsmen in the Spanish West Indies, a lawless and piratical set after they were driven from their trade by Spanish authorities in the 1690s.

Bucephalus --- 1601, Alexander the Great's favorite horse, from Gk. Boukephalos, lit. "Ox-head," from bous "ox" + kephale "head." "Men called [him] Bucephalus ... of the marke or brand of a buls head, which was imprinted vpon his shoulder." [Pliny, I.220, tr. Holland, 1601]

buck --- O.E. bucca "male goat," from P.Gmc. *bukkon (cf. M.Du. boc, O.H.G. boc, O.N. bokkr), perhaps from a PIE base *bhugo (cf. Avestan buza "buck, goat," Arm. buc "lamb"), but some speculate that it is from a lost pre-Gmc. language. Apparently O.E. also had buc "male deer." The two words (if truly separate) were fully merged by c.1100. Verb is 1848, apparently with a sense of "jump like a buck." Meaning of "dollar" is 1856, Amer.Eng., perhaps an abbreviation of buckskin, a unit of trade among Indians and Europeans in frontier days, attested in this sense from 1748. Buckshot is first recorded 1447; buck up "cheer up" is from 1844. Pass the buck is first recorded in the lit. sense 1865, Amer.Eng.: "The 'buck' is any inanimate object, usually knife or pencil, which is thrown into a jack pot and temporarily taken by the winner of the pot. Whenever the deal reaches the holder of the 'buck', a new jack pot must be made." [J.W. Keller, "Draw Poker," 1887] The fig, sense of "shift responsibility" is first recorded 1912.

buckaroo --- 1889, Amer.Eng., from bakhara (1827), from Sp. vaquero "cowboy," from vaca "cow." Spelling altered by infl. of buck.

bucket --- 1248, from Anglo-Norm. buquet "bucket, pail," infl. by or dim. of O.E. buc "pitcher, bulging vessel," orig. "belly" (buckets were formerly of leather as well as wood), from P.Gmc. *bukaz, from PIE root *bhou-, variant of base *bheu- "to grow, swell." Kick the bucket (1785) perhaps is from unrelated O.Fr. buquet "balance," a beam from which slaughtered animals were hung; perhaps reinforced by the notion of suicide by hanging.

buck-eye --- American horse chestnut (1763), said to be so called from resemblance to a stag's eye. Meaning "native of Ohio" is attested since 1822.

Buckinghamshire --- O.E. Buccingahamscir, from Buccingahamme (early 10c.), "River-bend land of the family or followers of a man called Bucca."

buckle (n.) --- spiked metal ring for holding a belt, etc., 1340, from O.Fr. bocla, from L. buccula cheek strap of a helmet," dim. of bucca "cheek."

buckle (v.) --- distort, warp, c.1525, bokelen "to arch the body," from M.Fr. boucler "to bulge," from O.Fr. bocler "to bulge, curl," from bocle "boss of a shield."

buckler --- small, round shield used to ward off blows, 1300, from O.Fr. boucler, from L. *buccularius (adj.) "having a boss," from buccula (see buckle (v.)).

bucko --- term of address, originally (1883) nautical and with a sense of "swaggering, domineering fellow." Probably from buck in the slang sense of "a blood or choice spirit." "There are in London divers lodges or societies of Bucks, formed in imitation of the Free Masons: one was held at the Rose, in Monkwell-street, about the year 1705. The president is styled the Grand Buck." ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]

buckra --- disparaging term among U.S. blacks for "white person," especially a poor one, 1790, apparently from an African language; cf. mbakara "master" in Efik, a language of the Ibibio people of southern Nigeria.

buckram --- 1222, from O.Fr. bouquerant, probably from Bukhara, city in central Asia from which it was imported to Europe. Originally a delicate, costly fabric, it later came to mean coarse linen used for lining. The -m in the Eng. word may indicate It. origin (cf. It. bucherame, 14c.).

bucktooth --- 1550, from buck, perhaps on the notion of "kicking up." In Fr., buck teeth are called dents à l'anglaise, lit. "English teeth."

buckwheat --- 1548, from M.Du. boecweite "beech wheat" (cf. Dan. boghvede, Ger. Buchweizen), so called from resemblance between grains and seed of beech trees. Possibly a native formation on the same model as the Du. word.

bucolic --- 1523, from L. bucolicus, from Gk. boukolikos "rustic," from boukolos "herdsman," from bous "cow" + -kolos "tending," related to L. colere "to till (the ground), cultivate, dwell, inhabit" (the root of colony).

bud --- 1398, bodde, origin unknown, perhaps from O.Fr. boter "push forward, thrust," itself a Gmc. word (cf. Du. bot "bud," O.S. budil "bag, purse," Ger. Beutel), or from O.E. budd "beetle."

Buddha --- 1681, from Pali, lit. "awakened, enlightened," pp. of budh "to awake, know, perceive," related to Skt. bodhati "is awake, observes, understands." Title given by his adherents to the man who taught this path, Siddhartha Gautama, also known to them as Sakyamuni "Sage of the Sakyas" (his family clan), who lived in northern India 5c. B.C.E. Buddhist, Buddhism first recorded 1801.

buddy --- 1850, Amer.Eng., possibly an alteration of brother, or from Brit. colloquial butty "companion" (1802), itself perhaps a variant of booty in booty fellow "confederate who shares plunder" (1530). But butty, meaning "work-mate," also was a localized dialect word in England and Wales, attested since 18c., and long associated with coal miners.

budge --- 1590, from M.Fr. bougier "to move, stir," from V.L. *bullicare "to bubble, boil," from L. bullire "to boil."

budgerigar --- 1847, from Native Australian, lit. "good cockatoo," from budgeri "good" + gar "cockatoo."

budget --- 1432, "leather pouch," from O.Fr. bougette, dim. of bouge "leather bag, wallet," from L. bulga "leather bag," of Gaulish origin (cf. O.Ir. bolg "bag," Bret. bolc'h "flax pod"), from PIE *bhelgh- (see belly). Modern financial meaning (1733) is from notion of treasury minister keeping his fiscal plans in a wallet. The verb in this sense is from 1884. Another 18c. transferred sense was to "a bundle of news," hence the use of the word as the title of some newspapers.

buff --- 1580, buffe leather, from M.Fr. buffle "buffalo." Color term comes from hue of buffalo hides (later ox hides); association of "hide" and "skin" led c.1602 to in the buff, and use of buff or suede to polish metal led to sense of verb "to polish with a buff" (1885). Buff-colored uniforms of N.Y.C. volunteer firefighters since 1820s led to meaning "enthusiast" (1903). "The Buffs are men and boys whose love of fires, fire-fighting and firemen is a predominant characteristic." [N.Y. "Sun," Feb. 4, 1903]

buffalo --- 1588, from Port. bufalo "water buffalo," from L. bufalus, var. of bubalus "wild ox," from Gk. boubalos "buffalo," originally a kind of African antelope, later used of a type of domesticated ox in southern Asia and the Mediterranean lands, from bous "ox, cow." Wrongly applied since c.1635 to the American bison. The verb meaning "to overawe" is from 1903. Buffalo wings finger food so called because the recipe was invented in Buffalo, N.Y., (1964, at Frank & Teressa's Anchor Bar on Main Street).

buffer --- 1835, from obsolete verb buff "make a dull sound when struck," from O.Fr. buffe "a blow;" hence "something that absorbs a blow."

buffet (n.) --- table, 1718, from Fr. buffet "bench," of uncertain origin. Sense extended 1888 to "meal served from a buffet."

buffet (v.) --- c.1225, from O.Fr., dim. of buffe "a blow," probably echoic of the sound of something soft being hit.

buffoon --- 1549, from M.Fr. bouffon, from It. buffone "jester," from buffare "to puff out the cheeks," a comic gesture, of echoic origin.

Bufo --- toad genus, from L. bufo "a toad," an Osco-Umbrian loan-word, equivalent to O.Prus. gabawo "toad," O.C.S. zaba "frog," M.L.G. kwappe "tadpole."

bug --- insect, 1622, probably from M.E. bugge "something frightening, scarecrow" a meaning obsolete except in bugbear (1580) and bugaboo (q.v.); probably connected with Scot. bogill "goblin, bugbear," or obsolete Welsh bwg "ghost, goblin" (cf. Welsh bwgwl "threat," earlier "fear"). Cf. also bogey (1) and Ger. bögge, böggel-mann "goblin." Perhaps influenced in meaning by O.E. -budda used in compounds for "beetle." Meaning "defect in a machine" (1889) may have been coined c.1878 by Thomas Edison. Sense of "equip with a concealed microphone" is from 1919. The verb "to annoy, irritate" is first attested 1949, probably in allusion to insect pests. Meaning "person obsessed by an idea (e.g. firebug) is from 1841. The meaning "to bulge" is 1870s, perhaps from a humorous or dialect mispronunciation of bulge. Sense of "microbe, germ" is from 1919. Phrase bug off is 1950s, perhaps from bugger off, which is chiefly British, but was picked up in U.S. Air Force slang in the Korean War.