Etymologically
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bury

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈbɛɹi/; /ˈbeɹ.i/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English burien, inherited from Old English byrġan (“to raise a mound, hide, inter”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *burzijaną, related to beorgan (“to shelter, preserve”);[2][3][5] cognates include Old High German bergan (“to protect, shelter, conceal”) (modern bergen), Old Norse bjarga and Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌲𐌰𐌽 (bairgan, “to save, preserve”).[2][3] The root is Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to hide, protect”).[2] It is related to borrow and borough.[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To put a dead body in the ground or a tomb: before 1000 in the OED and Barnhart.[7][3] The Middle English forms are birien (probably before 1160, in the Peterborough Chronicle) and burien (probably before 1200, in Layamon's Brut).[3]

Semantic evolution

A figurative use is found from about 1175.[7] To hide something in the ground, whatever the purpose, is from about 1340,[7] and to consign to oblivion, to abandon and forget, from 1593.[7] To cover over or conceal from sight is from 1711,[2][7] as is burying-ground, a cemetery.[2] To lose a relative through death (she has buried two husbands) is from 1710.[7] Buried treasure is from 1801.[2]

Timeline

  • before 1000 – byrgan, to inter.[7][3]
  • c. 1340 – to hide in the ground.[7]
  • 1593 – to put out of mind.[7]
  • 1711 – to cover from sight; burying-ground.[2][7]
  • 1801 – buried treasure.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To put a dead body in a grave or tomb, or into the sea; to inter.
  2. To place in the ground and cover with earth.
  3. To hide or cover from sight.
  4. To lose someone through death.
  5. To engross oneself deeply: buried in a book.
  6. To put an end to; to abandon: bury the hatchet.

Word family

  • burier
  • burial
  • rebury
  • burying beetle

Usage notes

The u is pronounced as e, a mismatch of spelling and sound shared with busy.[8] A separate noun bury, a manor-house or large farm, from Old English burh, is found from 1175,[7] and in Bedfordshire dialect it meant the chief homestead of the lord of the soil, used only in place-names.[9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  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. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ 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)