English

by-

Town or city.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English by (“town”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse býr (“dwelling, town”), from Proto-Germanic *būwiz (“dwelling”). Cognate with Danish by (“town”). More at bower.

    Etymology 2

    Partly from a combining form of by (“by, near, around”), and partly continuing Middle English bi-, by-, from Old English bī- (“by, near, around”), from Proto-Germanic *bi-, whence also be-. Cognate with Dutch bij-, German bei-.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*bʰuH- “to become, be”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishby “town”
      • derivedOld Norsebýr “town, settlement”
        • derivedProto-Germanic*būwiz “dwelling”
    • derivedMiddle Englishbi-
      • derivedOld Englishbī- “by, near, around”
        • derivedProto-Germanic*bi- “be-”
          • derivedProto-Germanic*bi “near, by”
            • inheritedProto-Indo-European*h₁pi
            • inherited (ultimately)Proto-Indo-European*h₁epi “at, near”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*leyp- “leave, remain”
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*bi “near, by”
          • derivedProto-Indo-European*glemb-

    Related: Danish by, Dutch bij-, German bei-

    Words built on it: by-place, by-end, by-play, by-business, by-book, by-room, by-past, by-cause, by-report

    Sources