babe

Pronunciation

• IPA: /beɪb/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, apparently short for baban (probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle),^[2][3] of uncertain origin,^[2] probably imitative of baby talk (see babble).^[3][4][5] Etymonline notes that in many languages similar words mean old woman, as Russian baba, and sometimes father.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An infant, a young child: before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Hensleigh Wedgwood observed that the simplest syllables, such as ma, ba, pa, na, da and ta, formed the vocabulary for father, mother, infant, breast and food.^[3] A doll is an obsolete sense of 1530.^[6] Figuratively, a childish or innocent person, and babes in Christ, new converts, are from 1526.^[6] A girl or woman, often as a form of address, is slang, chiefly American, from 1915,^[6] and Collins gives a sexually attractive young person as an informal sense.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1200 – baban.^[2]
• before 1393 – babe, an infant.^[2]
• 1526 – an innocent person.^[6]
• 1915 – a girl or woman (slang).^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A baby; an infant.
2. An innocent or naive person: a babe in arms.
3. (informal) A young woman, or an attractive young person; also a term of address.

Related words

• baby
• babble
• babushka

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins