bai

Forms

bai (feminine baie, masculine plural bais, feminine plural baies)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French bai, inherited from Latin badius (“chestnut-brown (of horses)”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin word was a technical term for the coat of a reddish-brown horse.^[2] Rey notes that its only known counterpart is Celtic, in Irish buide (“yellow”), and perhaps in the Gaulish people name Badiocasses;^[2] Etymonline gives the Irish word as Old Irish.^[5]

Cognate with Occitan bai, Spanish bayo and Italian baio, the Italian word being probably a borrowing.^[6][3] There was also a Medieval Latin form baiardus, the source of the name of Bayard, the horse of Renaud, son of Aymon.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1165, describing the coat of a reddish-brown horse;^[2] in Raoul de Cambrai a count spurs his destrier bai.^[6] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded in 1167–1168.^[7]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy the adjective soon named a horse of this colour (about 1170).^[2] The colour word stayed tied to horses, with many shades named in the 19th century (bai clair, bai cerise, bai châtain, bai brun).^[6] Rarely and in literary use it describes things of the same colour.^[8]

English took the word as bay “reddish-brown” in the mid-14th century, from Anglo-French and Old French bai.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – First recorded as the colour of a horse's coat.^[2]
• 1167–1168 – Recorded in Anglo-Norman.^[7]
• c. 1170 – Used as a noun for a horse of this colour.^[2]
• 13th century – Berte puts its heroine on a palefroy bai.^[6]
• Mid-14th century – English borrows it as bay.^[5]
• 16th century – Ambroise Paré describes the unicorn as de bay obscur.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a horse: having a reddish-brown coat, with the mane, tail and lower legs black; bay.^[8][9][10]
2. (rare, literary) Of a thing: of this reddish-brown colour.^[8]
3. Bolet bai: an edible bolete of this colour.^[10]

Noun

1. A bay-coloured horse.^[9][11]
2. The bay colour of a horse's coat.^[9][11]

Related words

• Latin badius
• English bay

Usage notes

Names of shades are used as invariable adjectives: des chevaux bai clair, bai foncé.^[6] Its homophones include baie and bey.^[10][11]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)