bicce

Forms

biċċe f (weak n-stem; genitive singular biċċan, nominative plural biċċan)^[1] Also bice and bicge, the spelling of Ælfric's Glossary.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *bikkjā, from Proto-Germanic *bikjǭ (“bitch”).^[1][3] The only close cognate is Old Norse bikkja (“bitch”).^[4][5] Holthausen relates it to Sanskrit भग (bhága, “pudenda”), and de Vries mentions that view, comparing greybaka (“bitch”), but also asks whether the word was a pet name formed from a call to the dog.^[5][4] Wiktionary derives the Germanic noun from *bikjaną (“to thrust, attack”), the verb of Old High German bicchen (“to stab”).^[1]

Etymonline holds that the Old English noun is probably from Old Norse, whose word it calls of unknown origin.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is a place-name in the bounds of King Edgar's charter of 961 for Ringwood, Hampshire, preserved in a contemporary single sheet: andlang ea on biccan pol “along the river to the bitch's pool”.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

Outside place-names the word is rare: Ælfric's Glossary renders Latin “canicula” with bicge, and the Medicina de quadrupedibus prescribes biccean meolc “bitch's milk”.^[2][9] The charter bounds have it in further names, such as bicce sætan in a charter of 969.^[10][8]

Its continuation Middle English bicche named the female dog and also the she-wolf; as a word of contempt for a woman it dates from about 1400, and it is now English bitch.^[11][6]

Timeline

• 961 – on biccan pol in the bounds of King Edgar's charter for Ringwood, in a contemporary single sheet.^[7][8]
• s. xi¹ – bicce sætan in a copy of a charter of 969.^[10][8]
• a1275 – Middle English Þe bicche bitit ille in the Proverbs of Alfred.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. a bitch, a female dog.^[2][3]

Descendants

• Middle English bicche (→ English bitch; Scots bitch)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 98
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bicce
4. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 36
5. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 22
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 690
8. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 89
10. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1322
11. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)