Etymologically
Log in

boon

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word boon

Pronunciation

boon1 favour, benefit

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1175 Lambeth Homilies
Borrowed from
Old Norse bón via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *bōniz

Etymology

The favour is inherited from Middle English bone (“prayer, request”),[2][3][4] borrowed from Old Norse bón (“petition, prayer”),[5][3][4][6][7] a less common form beside bœn,[4][6] from Proto-Germanic *bōniz.[3][8][4][9] Its only other Germanic reflex is Old English bēn (“prayer, petition”), the source of the archaic bene.[4][5][10] Klein relates it by ablaut to bannan (“to summon”) and banna (“to forbid”), and so to ban,[11][3][2] and the American Heritage Dictionary puts it under Proto-Indo-European *bhā-;[12] Orel compares Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound, tone”).[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A prayer, especially one addressed to God: about 1175, in the Lambeth Homilies.[5] Etymonline dates the borrowing to the late 12th century,[3] and the Gersum Project finds it common and widespread throughout Middle English.[4]

Semantic evolution

The OED explains the change of meaning by phrases such as ask a boon, have one's boon and grant a boon: taken as wholes, they moved the word from the prayer to the favour asked, and then to the favour granted.[5] Etymonline describes the same passage from "favour asked" to "thing asked for" and on to "a good thing received".[3] In Middle English it was also a request made with authority, a command phrased as a request (about 1300 to 1616).[5][2] By about 1500 it meant a favour or gift granted in answer to a request,[5] and since 1767 a blessing or benefit, with no idea of asking;[5][3] Partridge thinks this sense was helped by French bon (“good”).[13] From 1656 to 1855 a boon was also unpaid work owed by a tenant to a landlord,[5] a sense that survived in the dialects of Scotland and northern England as boon or boon work.[14]

Timeline

  • c. 1175 – a prayer to God; the thing prayed for; a favour asked.[5]
  • c. 1275 – a request to a person, especially for a favour.[5]
  • c. 1300 – a command phrased as a request (obsolete by 1616).[5]
  • before 1500 – a favour or gift granted on request.[5]
  • 1656 – unpaid service owed by a tenant to a landlord (obsolete by 1855).[5]
  • 1767 – a benefit or blessing.[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Something that is very useful or welcome; a blessing or benefit: The new bus route has been a boon to the village.[7][2][15]
  2. (archaic) A favour asked for, or one granted in answer to a request: He begged a boon of the queen.[7][2][5]
  3. (obsolete) A prayer or petition.[5][10]
  4. (obsolete, c. 1300–1616) A command phrased as a request.[5][2]
  5. (obsolete, 1656–1855) Unpaid work owed by a tenant to a landlord.[5][14]

Word family

  • boonless

boon2 jolly, convivial

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1325 Coer de Lyon
Borrowed from
Old French bon via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin bonus

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Middle English bon (“good”), also bone and boon,[2][8][3] borrowed from Old French bon (“good”), feminine bone,[5][8][6][11] from Latin bonus (“good”).[8][3][6][12] In Anglo-Norman the word is recorded from 1113–19.[16] Etymonline thinks it was probably encouraged by the noun boon1.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Good, goodly: about 1325, in Coer de Lyon.[5] Barnhart's first record is in Chaucer's House of Fame, probably about 1380.[17]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the adjective was used mostly in phrases taken over from French, such as bon voiage and bone chere; after 1600 it was felt as French and gradually dropped, except in boon companion.[5] That phrase, a jolly companion in drinking and merrymaking, is recorded from 1566,[5][3] and Etymonline calls it the only real survival of the word.[3] Johnson (1755) defined the adjective as "gay; merry", quoting Milton's "jocund and boon" from Paradise Lost.[18] From the early 17th century poets also used it for "gracious, bountiful", as in boon nature.[5][2] In African-American slang boon has meant a close friend since the 1950s, probably from boon companion.[19]

Timeline

  • c. 1325 – good, goodly (obsolete by 1680).[5]
  • before 1513 – advantageous, prosperous, as in boon voyage (obsolete by 1657).[5]
  • 1566 – convivial, jolly, chiefly in boon companion.[5][3]
  • before 1612 – poetic, gracious, bountiful.[5]
  • 1956 – slang, a close friend.[19]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Convivial and jolly, chiefly in boon companion, a close friend to drink and make merry with.[7][2][15][5]
  2. (poetic) Bounteous, kindly or benign.[2][5]
  3. (archaic) Favourable, prosperous.[20][15][5]
  4. (obsolete, c. 1325–1680) Good, goodly.[5][2]

Usage notes

A third word boon, the woody part of flax or hemp left after the fibre has been removed, is of unknown origin and is recorded from before 1425.[5][10][2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Dance, Richard; Pons-Sanz, Sara; Schorn, Brittany, eds., The Gersum Project: The Scandinavian Influence on English Vocabulary, gersum.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  13. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  14. ^ a b 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)
  15. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  16. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  17. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  18. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  19. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  20. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Related etymologies

  • score · also from Old Norse
  • scale · also from Old Norse
  • birth · also from Old Norse
  • gift · also from Old Norse
  • gun · also from Old Norse
  • sale · also from Old Norse
  • link · also from Old Norse
  • kid · also from Old Norse
Cite this entry

“Boon.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/boon. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·