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bedrock

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Etymology and origin of the English word bedrock

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1839 Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal
Ultimate origins
Old English beddOld French roque
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English bed
English bedrock
From the same root
English bedside ← bed
English bedtime ← bed

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈbɛd.ɹɒk/[1]
  • US: /ˈbɛdˌɹɑk/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English bed + rock.[2][3][4][5] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In geology, the solid rock lying beneath softer deposits such as alluvium and soil: 1839, in the Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal.[2][4] Etymonline dates it to 1850.[3]

Semantic evolution

The figurative senses began in the United States,[2] where they are first recorded in Western newspapers.[2] From 1855 bedrock meant the fundamental principles on which something rests.[2] From 1864 it appears in phrases such as at bedrock and down to bedrock, both for the point of being penniless and for the bare essentials of something;[2] the OED compares rock-bottom.[2] Etymonline dates the figurative use to 1869.[3] The word was used as an adjective, "fundamental", from 1864 in the OED,[2] 1873 in Merriam-Webster and 1881 in Etymonline.[4][3] From 1871 it also described the lowest price a business can sustain.[2] Collins gives the phrase get down to bedrock, to reach the basic facts.[6]

Timeline

  • 1839 – the solid rock beneath soil and loose deposits.[2][4] Etymonline dates it to 1850.[3]
  • 1855 – figurative, the fundamental principles of something.[2]
  • 1864 – at bedrock, penniless, and down to bedrock, down to the bare essentials, and as an adjective, fundamental.[2]
  • 1871 – adjective, of a price, the lowest that can be sustained.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The solid rock lying beneath the soil and other loose surface material.[6][4][7][2]
  2. The foundation or basic principles of something: Trust is the bedrock of any partnership.[6][4][7][2]
  3. The lowest point or level; the bare minimum: By winter the firm's cash reserves had reached bedrock.[6][4][7][2]

Adjective

  1. Basic, fundamental: bedrock beliefs.[4][2]
  • rock-bottom

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cite this entry

“Bedrock.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/bedrock. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·