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
- A baby; an infant.
- An innocent or naive person: a babe in arms.
- (informal) A young woman, or an attractive young person; also a term of address.
Related words
- baby
- babble
- babushka
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins