Etymologically
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This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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