Etymologically
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buy

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English byen (also biggen), inherited from Old English bycgan (“to get by paying for; to redeem, ransom”) (past tense bohte),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *bugjan,[2] which is of unknown origin and not found outside Germanic.[2][5][3] Merriam-Webster suggests it may be akin to Old High German biogan (“to bend”).[6] Its relatives include Old Saxon buggian (“to buy”) and Old Norse byggja (“to lend, let out”).[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To get by paying for; to redeem, ransom; to procure: Old English bycgan.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle English the word was pronounced with the dg sound of bridge, like “budge” or “bidge”.[3][2] The modern spelling comes from a south-western dialect form, buggen (about 1175) and buyen (about 1300), and did not become standard until the end of the 16th century.[3][2] Buyer is from 1303, in Mannyng.[3] The noun, “a purchase”, especially a good one, is American, from 1875[2] or 1879, first in stock-market use.[3][9] “To believe, accept as true” is from 1926.[2] Buy time is from 1946.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1175 – buggen (south-western dialect).[3]
  • c. 1200 – Middle English biggen.[3]
  • 1303 – buyer (Mannyng).[3]
  • late 16th century – the spelling buy becomes standard.[3]
  • 1879 – noun, a bargain.[3][9]
  • 1926 – to believe.[2]
  • 1946 – buy time.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To get in exchange for money; to purchase.
  2. To be enough to purchase: money can't buy happiness.
  3. To obtain by sacrifice or exchange.
  4. To bribe.
  5. (informal) To believe or accept: I don't buy it.

Noun

  1. Something bought; a purchase.
  2. A bargain.

Word family

  • buyable
  • buyer
  • buyout
  • buy boat
  • aby
  • bought

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)