bib

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English bibben (“to drink heartily, tipple”), also beben and biblen,^[2] probably borrowed from Latin bibō (“to drink”),^{[3][4][5][6][2]} from Proto-Indo-European *pō(i)- (“to drink”).^[3][7] The MED sees playful variants in some of the Middle English forms,^[2] and the OED, Hoad and Etymonline allow that the verb may instead have arisen independently, imitating repeated movements of the lips; the OED compares the variant beb.^[8][9][7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Barnhart call the Latin source only possible.^[10][11] The noun is probably formed from the verb,^{[8][5][4][9][11]} but the OED calls the reason purely conjectural: either because a child wore it while drinking, or, as Skeat thought, because it soaks up moisture.^[8][7] Weekley compared French biberon (“feeding bottle”).^[12] The Latin verb is also the source of imbibe, bibulous and beverage.^[13][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

To drink heartily, to tipple: Chaucer's miller in the Reeve's Tale (about 1390) "hath so wisly bibbed ale" that he snores in his sleep.^[2] The OED's first record is in Cleanness (c. 1400, perhaps composed about 1380),^[8] and Barnhart dates the verb probably to about 1380.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a cloth placed under a child's chin, appears in 1574 in John Baret's Alvearie,^[8] described as being "for a child's breast";^[13] Ayto and Barnhart date it to the edition of 1580.^[13][11] Johnson (1755) defined it as a small piece of linen put upon children's breasts over their clothes, and the verb as "to tipple; to sip".^[15] Towards the end of the 17th century adults also wore bibs, often as the top part of an apron,^[16][8] and best bib and tucker, one's best clothes, is quoted from 1747, first of a countrywoman and later of men too.^[16] From 1854 the word was used of a patch of feathers under a bird's bill,^[8] and the whiting-pout, a fish of the cod family, has been called the bib since 1674.^[8][5] A tap with a downturned nozzle, a bib cock or bib, is recorded from 1797; the OED calls its origin obscure, perhaps the same noun.^[8] The verb survives in wine-bibber, which renders the Vulgate's bibens vinum in Luke 7:34,^[17][12] but is otherwise archaic.^[5][6] In northern English and Scots dialect, bib or beb meant to drink continuously in small quantities, and in Gloucestershire the noun was a sip or a small quantity of food.^[18] American slang had put on the bib, to eat, from 1938, and Australian slang stick or poke one's bib in, to interfere, from 1953.^[19]

Timeline

• c. 1390 – verb, to drink heartily, to tipple, in Chaucer.^[2] The OED's first record is c. 1400.^[8]
• 1574 – noun, a cloth placed under a child's chin.^[8] Barnhart and Ayto date it to 1580.^[11][13]
• 1612 – bib-all-night, a drunkard.^[8]
• 1674 – the whiting-pout, a fish.^[8]
• 1687 – a similar article worn by adults; the top part of an apron.^[8]
• 1797 – bib cock, a tap with a downturned nozzle.^[8]
• 1854 – a patch of feathers under a bird's bill.^[8]
• 1938 – put on the bib, to eat (US slang).^[19]
• 1953 – poke one's bib in, to interfere (Australian slang).^[19]

Meanings

Noun

1. A piece of cloth or plastic tied under a child's chin to keep its clothes clean while it eats: She tied a bib on the toddler before lunch.^[6][10][8]
2. The upper front part of an apron, overalls or dungarees, or a similar part of an adult's dress.^[6][10][8]
3. A patch of differently coloured feathers or fur under the chin of a bird or mammal.^[10][8]
4. A canvas throat guard attached to a fencing mask.^[10]
5. The whiting-pout or pout, a European food fish of the cod family.^[6][5][8]
6. Short for bibcock, a tap with a nozzle bent downwards.^[6][8]
7. best bib and tucker: one's best clothes.^[5][16]
8. stick one's bib in (Australia, informal): to interfere.^[6][19]

Verb

1. (archaic) To drink, especially often or much; to tipple.^{[6][10][5][8]}

Word family

• bibless
• biblike

Related words

• bibber
• wine-bibber
• bibcock
• imbibe
• bibulous
• beverage
• potable

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
14. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
17. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
18. ^ 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)
19. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com