bailey

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbeɪli/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English bail(l)y, baylle, a variant of bail in the sense of an outer wall,^[2][3] probably from Old French baile, bail(l)e, a palisade, enclosure, enclosed court,^[3][4][5][2] which is of unknown origin, perhaps ultimately connected with Latin bacula, sticks, from the idea of a palisade of stakes.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The outer wall of a castle, enclosing its outer court: about 1200 in Anglo-Latin and the late 13th century in place names,^[2] before 1300 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word was extended to the outer court itself in the early 14th century,^[2] a sense the OED records from later writers (1845).^[6] It survives in names such as the Old Bailey in London, the seat of the Central Criminal Court, which stood in the ancient bailey of the city wall between Ludgate and Newgate.^[3][6][2]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – Anglo-Latin.^[2]
• before 1300 – a castle's outer wall.^[6]
• early 14th century – the outer court.^[2]
• 1570 – the Old Bailey.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The outer wall of a castle.
2. The courtyard enclosed by this wall.

Word family

• motte and bailey

Related words

• bail
• bailiff
• motte

Usage notes

Bailey's, the Irish whiskey-and-cream liqueur, was introduced in 1974.^[2] In Kent dialect a bailey was a court within a fortress, and in Gloucestershire a fold-yard.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)