beam

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbiːm/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English beem, inherited from Old English bēam (“tree; piece of timber; ray”),^[2][3][4] from West Germanic *bauma, tree,^[5][3] source also of Old Frisian bām, Dutch boom and German Baum (“tree”),^[3][2][6] and perhaps, with unexplained sound changes, of Old Norse baðmr and Gothic bagms;^[3][5] its origin is uncertain, perhaps a substrate word according to Boutkan.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A tree: 826 in the OED, only in Old English except in compounds such as hornbeam;^[7][8] a large piece of squared timber, 978.^[7] Barnhart dates the Old English word to about 725.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Late Old English used it also of a rafter, post or ship's timber.^[3] The meaning ray of light developed in Old English, probably because Bede used beam to render Latin columna (lucis), the Biblical pillar of fire.^[3] The cross of Christ is from about 1000.^[7] One of the transverse timbers holding a ship together is early 13th-century, hence the greatest breadth of a ship;^[3] broad in the beam is by 1894 of ships and 1938 of persons.^[3] A directed flow of radiation is from 1906, and on the beam, aviators' slang for following a radio beam, from 1941.^[3] The verb, to emit rays, is from about 1400, and to smile radiantly from 1804.^[3]

Timeline

• 826 – a tree.^[7]
• 978 – a timber.^[7]
• early 13th century – a ship's beam.^[3]
• c. 1400 – to shine (verb).^[3]
• 1804 – to smile radiantly.^[3]
• 1906 – a beam of radiation.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A long, sturdy piece of squared timber or metal used in building.
2. A ray or shaft of light, or a directed flow of particles or radiation.
3. A radiant smile.
4. The breadth of a ship at its widest point.
5. The crossbar of a balance.

Verb

1. To transmit a radio or television signal.
2. To smile radiantly.
3. To shine brightly.

Word family

• beamless
• beamlike

Related words

• hornbeam
• whitebeam
• boom

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press