Etymologically
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bunch

Etymology and origin of the English word bunch

History Permalink
Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1325
From
Middle English bunche
Ultimate origin
Old French (bonge)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bʌntʃ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bunche,[2][3] of uncertain origin.[4][5] Barnhart and Etymonline derive it from Old French (Walloon) bonge “bundle”, a nasalized form of bouge, from Flemish bondje “little bundle”.[2][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged compares Dutch bonk “lump, cluster” and Old Norse bunga “hump”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A protuberance, especially a hump on the body: about 1325 in the OED.[7] A little bundle is from about 1350 in Barnhart and Etymonline,[2][6] and a hump or swelling from about 1390.[2]

Semantic evolution

A bundle of straw is from about 1450.[7] A cluster of things of the same kind, as of grapes or flowers, is from the mid-15th century in Etymonline,[6] 1570 in the OED,[7] and the looser “a lot, a group of any kind”, including people, from the 1620s.[6][7] The verb, “to bulge out”, is from before 1398, in Trevisa's Bartholomew,[2][6] “to gather into a bunch” from 1828, and “to crowd together” from 1850.[6] In dialect a bunch was also a measure of wheat or other produce.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1325 – a hump.[7]
  • c. 1350 – a little bundle.[2][6]
  • a. 1398 – verb, to bulge.[2]
  • mid-15th century – a cluster.[6]
  • 1620s – a group, lot.[6]
  • 1828 – to gather into a bunch.[6]
  • 1850 – to crowd together.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A group of things growing or fastened together; a cluster: a bunch of grapes.
  2. (informal) A group of people: a friendly bunch.
  3. (informal) A large number or amount: a bunch of work.
  4. (archaic) A lump or swelling.

Verb

  1. To gather into a bunch or group.
  2. To gather (fabric) into folds.

Word family

  • bunchy
  • bunchberry
  • bunchflower
  • bunchgrass
  • honeybunch
  • bundle
  • bunched

Usage notes

A separate obsolete bunch meant a punch or thump, from 1642, with a verb “to strike, thump” from 1362.[7][3]

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ 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 g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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)
Cite this entry

“Bunch.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/bunch. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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