bucket

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbʌkɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English buket, borrowed from Anglo-Norman buket (“bucket, pail”), buquet,^[2][3][4] perhaps from Old English būc, pitcher, belly,^[3][4][5] or from a Frankish source;^[2] buckets were formerly made of leather as well as wood.^[2] Būc is from West Germanic *būk-, source also of German Bauch (“belly”),^[2][3] possibly from PIE *bʰew-, to swell.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A pail for water: 1248 in Barnhart, the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The vessel drawn up from a well and the fire bucket are early senses.^[6] The piston of a lift-pump is from 1634,^[6] a compartment on a water wheel from 1759,^[6] and a power scoop for dredging later in the 19th century.^[6] Bucketful is from before 1563.^[3] To kick the bucket, to die, is from 1785, perhaps from an unrelated bucket, a beam on which slaughtered animals were hung (1570s), from French buquet, a balance.^[2][6] A bucket list, of things one hopes to do before dying, is by 2007.^[2] The verb, to put in a bucket, is from 1640,^[7] and to move rapidly and jerkily is an informal sense.^[8]

Timeline

• 1248 – a pail.^[3]
• before 1563 – bucketful.^[3]
• 1634 – a pump piston.^[6]
• 1785 – kick the bucket.^[2]
• 2007 – bucket list.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An open, roughly cylindrical container with a handle; a pail.
2. The amount a bucket holds.
3. A scoop or similar part on a machine, such as a mechanical shovel or water wheel.

Verb

1. To hold, carry or put in a bucket.
2. (informal) To move fast and jerkily.

Related words

• bucketful
• bucket list
• pail

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin