bundle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbʌn.dəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bondell, probably borrowed from Middle Dutch bondel, a diminutive of bond, from binden (“to bind”),^[2][3][4] or else partly from Old English byndele (“a binding”),^{[2][3][5][6][7]} from Proto-Germanic *bund- (see bind),^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *bhendh- (“to bind”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A collection of things bound together: about 1331 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline, 1388 in the OED.^[2][3][8] A bandage, a rare obsolete sense, is from 1382.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Caxton wrote of “a bondel of keyes”, and bunch has since replaced bundle in many uses.^[2] Anatomists used it for a set of muscle or nerve fibres from the mid-18th century (1732).^[6][8] Fixed quantities of paper (1724) and of linen yarn (1875) were bundles.^[8] A large sum of money is from 1899,^[3][8] first in American horse racing,^[6] and to go a bundle on, to bet heavily, followed.^[8] A bundle of nerves is from the 1880s in American sources, or 1938 in Etymonline.^[6][3] The verb is from the 1620s;^[3][2] bundling, the custom of courting couples sleeping clothed in one bed in New England, is from 1781, to bundle someone off from 1823, and to bundle up in warm clothes from 1853.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1331 – a bundle.^[2]
• 1620s – to bundle (verb).^[3]
• 1732 – a bundle of fibres.^[8]
• 1781 – bundling (courtship).^[3]
• 1823 – to bundle off.^[3]
• 1899 – a lot of money.^[3][8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A number of things bound or gathered together: a bundle of sticks.
2. Something wrapped or tied for carrying; a package.
3. A cluster of closely bound muscle or nerve fibres.
4. (slang) A large sum of money.
5. go a bundle on (slang): to be very fond of.

Verb

1. To tie, wrap or gather together.
2. To send off quickly and without fuss; to hustle.
3. To dress warmly, often with up.
4. (historical) To sleep fully clothed in the same bed, a former courtship custom of New England and Wales.

Word family

• bundler
• bindle
• unbundle
• bundle buggy
• bundle of His
• bundle of nerves
• atrioventricular bundle
• fiber bundle

Related words

• bundle up
• bind
• bond
• band
• bunch

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 d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ 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