English

buy

/baɪ/
To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.

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    Origin

    From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”).

    Cognate with Scots buy (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen (“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean (“to buy”), Old Norse byggja (“to build, settle”), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bugjan, “to buy”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishbyen
      • inheritedOld Englishbycġan “to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*buggjan
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*bugjaną “to buy”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*bʰūgʰ- “to bend”
              • derivedProto-Indo-European*bʰewgʰ- “to take away, deliver”

    Related: Scots buy, Dutch beugen, Old Saxon buggian, Old Norse byggja, Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽

    Words built on it: buy-in, buy up, buy into

    Sources