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boredom

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Etymology and origin of the English word boredom

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1829 Court Journal
Ultimate origins
Old English borianEnglish -dom
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English bore
English boredom

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈbɔː.dəm/[1]
  • US: /ˈbɔɹ.dəm/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English bore + -dom.[2][3][4][5] The OED takes the base as the noun bore, a tiresome thing or person,[2] Etymonline and Dictionary.com as the verb, to weary.[3][5] That bore appeared suddenly as a vogue word in the 1760s and is of unknown origin.[6][7][2] It is usually explained as a figurative use of the verb meaning to pierce, but the OED and Ayto doubt it;[2][6][3] the OED notes that the 18th-century phrase “French bore” suggests a French origin, but finds no French word that gives the sense.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The practice of being a bore, the same as boreism: 1829, in the Court Journal.[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1840.[3]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, the state of being bored, followed in 1831, in Disraeli's The Young Duke;[2] Etymonline dates it to 1845, and Merriam-Webster to 1853.[3][4] The word was also used for bores as a class (1849 in Etymonline, 1883 in the OED).[3][2] Only the sense "state of being bored" is current.[8][9]

Timeline

  • 1829 – the behaviour of a bore.[2]
  • 1831 – the state of being bored.[2]
  • 1849 – bores as a class.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The state of feeling bored through lack of interest or occupation; tedium or ennui: Long train journeys fill him with boredom.[9][4][8]
  2. A cause or instance of boredom; a bore.[4]
  • bore
  • boring
  • bored
  • boreism

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d 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 Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Boredom.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/boredom. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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