bailout

Etymology

It is the noun use of the phrasal verb bail out,^[2][3][4] formed from English bail + out.^[5][6] The sources differ on which verb it contains.^[6][4] The OED derives the sense of rescue from difficulty from the legal verb, to obtain a person's release by giving bail, and the parachute sense from the verb meaning to scoop water out of a boat, also spelled bale, perhaps influenced by the legal one.^[6][3] Etymonline takes the noun from the aviation use and finds it unclear which sense lies behind the financial one.^[4] The legal verb goes back to Old French baillier (“to control, guard; to hand over, deliver”),^[4][6] from Latin bāiulō (“to carry a burden”).^[4][6] The water-scooping verb comes from an older noun meaning a small bucket, from the French nautical word baille (“bucket”),^[4][6] which Etymonline traces to the same Latin verb and the OED, probably, to Late Latin bacula, a diminutive of baca.^[4][6] The OED thinks the parachute verb probably a use of either bale, as if letting a bundle through a trapdoor, or of the water-scooping verb, the spelling history favouring the second.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A means of release or rescue from difficulty: 1939, in a heading in Time magazine.^[6] Merriam-Webster's first date, for an emergency parachute jump from an aircraft, is 1943,^[5] Etymonline dates the aviation noun to 1945,^[4] and the OED's first record of the parachute sense is from 1955.^[6] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1950–55.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The phrasal verb bail out, to leave suddenly, is recorded from 1930, first of pilots jumping from aeroplanes;^[4] Green's Dictionary of Slang has bale out, to run off or escape from a difficult situation, from 1899–1900, in American use.^[7] The noun followed in both uses: an emergency descent by parachute, and the rescue of a person or organization from trouble.^[3][5] Etymonline dates the sense "federal help for a private business in trouble" to 1968,^[4] and the Shorter Oxford dates the sense of release from financial difficulty to the late 20th century.^[3] In current use it is chiefly financial help given to a failing business or economy to save it from collapse.^[8][6]

Timeline

• 1930 – the verb bail out, to leave suddenly, first of pilots.^[4]
• 1939 – noun, a release or rescue from difficulty; later especially financial help to a failing business.^[6]
• 1943 – an emergency parachute jump from an aircraft.^[5] The OED's first record of this sense is from 1955,^[6][9] Etymonline's from 1945.^[4]
• 1968 – government help for a private business in trouble.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rescue from financial difficulty, especially money given by a government to save a failing company, bank or economy: The airline asked for a bailout after a year of losses.^{[8][5][6][10]}
2. Any release or rescue from a difficult situation.^[6][3]
3. An emergency jump with a parachute from an aircraft.^[5][3][6]

Related words

• bail out
• bail
• bale

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
3. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins