beanie

Etymology

It is probably formed from English bean + -ie,^[2][3][4][5] from bean in the slang sense "head";^[6][2][3][7] the OED calls this "apparently".^[8] Etymonline dates that sense to American baseball slang of 1905,^[6] and the OED to about 1905.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small close-fitting cap: 1904, in a cartoon by T. A. Dorgan about the New York Giants' new hats, in Green's Dictionary of Slang;^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also gives 1904.^[2] The OED's first record, for a small hat worn off the face, is from 1943,^[8] and Etymonline dates the word to 1940.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the United States the beanie was long the cap of schoolboys and college students; in 1921 an Arizona newspaper reported freshmen wearing their beanies until the first of April.^[5][2] A cap with a small propeller on top is a propeller beanie.^[5] The word was also used for a woman's small round hat worn off the face,^[2][8] and the Shorter Oxford adds a small round woollen hat worn on top of the head.^[4] From 1996 it was short for Beanie Baby, a soft toy.^[8]

Timeline

• 1904 – a small, tight-fitting cap.^[5][2]
• 1943 – a woman's small close-fitting hat worn off the face.^[8]
• 1996 – short for Beanie Baby.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small, round, close-fitting cap like a skullcap, often worn by schoolboys and college students.^[2][9][5]
2. A small round woollen hat that fits closely over the head.^[4][9]
3. A woman's small round hat worn on the back of the head.^[2][8]

Related words

• bean

Usage notes

In British teenage slang of the late 1990s and 2000s, beanie also meant an attractive young woman.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins