bosom English · revision 1513

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbʊz(ə)m/, /ˈbʌz(ə)m/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bosom]], [[m|enm|bosum]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Skeat 1911) [[inh|ang|bōsm|t=breast; womb; surface; ship's hold]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[gmw-pro|*bōsm-]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of [[ofs|bōsm]], [[osx|bōsom]], [[nl|boezem]] and [[goh|buosam]] ([[de|Busen]]).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) Its further origin is uncertain:^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) it may come from [[ine-pro|*bhou-|t=to grow, swell]] or from a word for “arm”, so that the first sense would be the enclosure formed by the breast and arms,^(Etymonline) or from a substrate language.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The breast of a human being (Old English, c. 725 in Barnhart; c. 1000 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Old English the word was used of the womb and of the surface of the sea or land.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) From about 1175 it meant the space enclosed by the breast and arms, as when something is clasped to the breast,^(OED 1989) and since the 13th century the breast as the seat of inner thoughts and feelings.^(Wiktionary) Many figurative senses, such as ''bosom friend'' and ''wife of one's bosom'', come from the Bible, the latter a Hebraism adopted in 1611.^(Weekley 1921)^(OED 1989) The adjective ''bosom'', intimate, dates from 1590.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) The plural ''bosoms'' for a woman's breasts is a recent colloquial use (1959 in the OED).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''bōsm''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1175 – the enclosure of the breast and arms.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1587 – verb, to embrace.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1590 – adjective, intimate.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1611 – ''wife of one's bosom''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1959 – ''bosoms'', a woman's breasts.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The human [[chest]], especially the front of it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A woman's breast or breasts.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The part of a garment that covers the chest.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The breast considered as the seat of the emotions; the [[heart]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Warm closeness and security, as in ''the bosom of the family''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Very close and dear; [[intimate]], as in ''a bosom friend''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To embrace; to hold or hide in the bosom.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bosomy]]

+ * [[disbosom]]

+ * [[unbosom]]

+ * [[Abraham's bosom]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[breast]]

+ * [[embosom]]

+ * [[bust]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}