English

bed

/bɛd/
A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep.

    Etymology graph

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    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
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    Origin

    Inherited from Middle English bed, bedde, from Old English bedd, from Proto-West Germanic *badi, from Proto-Germanic *badją (“resting-place, plot of ground”).

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots bed, North Frisian baad, beed, Bēr, Saterland Frisian Bääd, West Frisian bêd, Cimbrian pett, Dutch bed, Dutch Low Saxon bedde, German Bett, Bette, German Low German Bedd, Luxembourgish Bett, Vilamovian bet, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål bed, Faroese and Icelandic beð, beður, Norwegian Nynorsk bed, bedd, Swedish bädd, Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌳𐌹 (badi), all meaning “bed”.

    further possible etymology and cognates

    The Proto-Germanic term may in turn be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to dig”) with various theories explaining the development in meaning. If it is, the term is also cognate with Ancient Greek βοθυρος (bothuros, “pit”), Latin fossa (“ditch”), Latvian bedre (“hole”), Welsh bedd (“grave”), Breton bez (“grave”); and probably also Russian бодать (bodatʹ, “to butt, gore”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishbed
      • inheritedOld Englishbedd
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*badi
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*badją “resting-place, plot of ground”
    • rootProto-Indo-European*bʰedʰ- “to dig; to stab”
    • rootProto-Indo-European*bʰedʰh₂- “to pierce; to stab”
    • rootProto-Indo-European*bʰeh₁- “to warm”

    Related: Scots bed, North Frisian baad, Saterland Frisian Bääd, West Frisian bêd, Cimbrian pett, Dutch bed, Dutch Low Saxon bedde, German Bett, German Low German Bedd, Luxembourgish Bett, Vilamovian bet, da,nb bed, fo,is beð, Norwegian Nynorsk bed, Swedish bädd, Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌳𐌹, Ancient Greek βοθυρος, Latin fossa, Latvian bedre, Welsh bedd, Breton bez, Russian бодать

    Sources