bottom

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈbɒt.əm/, US /ˈbɑː.t̬əm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English botme,^[2][3] inherited from Old English botm (“ground, foundation, lowest part”),^[2][4] from Proto-Germanic *buthm-,^[2][4] the source also of Old Frisian bodem, Old Saxon bodom, Dutch bodem, Old High German bodam (German Boden “ground, earth”) and Old Norse botn.^[2][4][5] It is perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bhudhno- (“bottom”),^[2] the source also of Latin fundus, Greek pythmḗn and Sanskrit budhná-,^[2][4][3] so that it is related to foundation and fund.^[4] The spelling with -tt- replaced the older one after 1400.^[4] The verb is from the noun.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The lowest part of anything, and the bed under a lake or sea: about 725, in Beowulf,^[4] and before 1000 in the OED.^[6] It was also used in place names for a valley floor, as in Keldebothem (1153).^[4]

Semantic evolution

Low-lying land or a valley is from about 1325, and now chiefly American.^[6][5] The keel or hull of a ship, from Dutch use, is from the 16th century.^[5] “Fundamental character, essence” is from the 1570s,^[2] while to get to the bottom of dates from 1773.^[2] The seat of a person is from 1794,^[2][6] bottom dollar, one's last, from 1857,^[2] and bottoms up from 1875 in Etymonline^[2] and 1917 in the OED.^[6] The adjective is from 1561, from the noun used attributively.^[4][3] The verb meant “to put a bottom on” from 1544^[6][4] and “to reach the bottom” from 1808;^[2] bottom out is a later use.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 725 – the lowest part.^[4]
• c. 1325 – low-lying land.^[6]
• 1544 – verb, to put a bottom on.^[6][4]
• 1561 – adjective.^[4][3]
• 1570s – the essence of something.^[2]
• 1773 – get to the bottom of.^[2]
• 1794 – the buttocks.^[2][6]
• 1808 – verb, to reach the bottom.^[2]
• 1857 – bottom dollar.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The lowest or deepest part of something.
2. The underside or base.
3. The ground under a body of water.
4. The lowest or last place: the bottom of the class.
5. The buttocks.
6. Low land along a river.

Adjective

1. Lowest; last.

Verb

1. To provide with a bottom.
2. To reach the lowest point, often with out.

Word family

• bottomer
• bottomed

Related words

• foundation
• fund
• fundament
• profound
• bottomless

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin