Etymologically
Log in

batting

This is an old revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 03:38. It may differ significantly from the current version. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Current version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈbætɪŋ/[1]

Etymology

It is from the verb from English bat + -ing,[2][3][4] or from the noun bat, a club.[2] The sense "cotton in sheets" is from the beating of raw cotton to clean it,[5][6] and Barnhart also derives it from batt (1830), a felted mass of fibre.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Beating, in washing or smoothing linen, in compounds such as batting-staff: 1611, in Cotgrave's French–English dictionary.[2]

Semantic evolution

The sporting sense, the action of using a bat in cricket, is from 1773,[2][6] and baseball's batting average from 1867.[6] The beating of raw cotton to remove impurities is recorded from 1813,[2] and cotton fibre prepared in sheets for quilts from 1875–76.[7][2] In dialect, batting was a beating and the snaring of birds at night with nets.[8]

Timeline

  • 1611 – beating linen (obsolete by 1798).[2]
  • 1773 – using a bat in cricket.[2][6]
  • 1813 – beating raw cotton.[2]
  • 1867 – batting average.[6]
  • 1875 – cotton in sheets for quilts.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or skill of hitting with a bat, in baseball or cricket.
  2. Cotton, wool or synthetic fibre in sheets or rolls, used for stuffing mattresses and lining quilts.

Word family

  • batting average
  • batting cage
  • batting order

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ 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)