bed English · revision 3361

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 700|origins=gem-pro *badją}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bed/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bed]], [[inh|ang|bedd|t=bed, couch; garden plot]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) from [[gem-pro|*badją|alt=*badja-]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Old Saxon [[m|osx|bed]], Old High German [[m|goh|betti]], German [[m|de|Bett]], Old Norse [[m|non|beðr]] and Gothic badi.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It may originally have meant “a sleeping place dug in the ground”, from [[ine-pro|*bʰedʰ-|alt=*bhedh-|t=to dig, pierce]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) and Merriam-Webster compares Latin [[m|la|fodere|t=to dig]],^(MWU 2024) but Etymonline notes that Boutkan doubts this,^(Etymonline) and Hoad calls the ultimate origin uncertain.^(Hoad 1986) The verb is Old English [[m|ang|beddian]], from the noun.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English bedd: about 700.^(Barnhart 1988) Both the sleeping place and the garden plot are found in Old English,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and Word Origins suggests the core idea of the word may be “digging”.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Bed and board'', “in bed and at table”, was an old legal term from the early 13th century for the duties of husband and wife, and since the mid-15th century it has also meant “meals and lodging”.^(Etymonline) Medieval uses of ''to make a bed'' refer to preparing a sleeping place on the floor of a hall.^(Cresswell 2021) The bottom of a lake, sea or river is a bed from the 1580s,^(Etymonline) and a layer or stratum in geology from the 1680s.^(Etymonline) A hospital bed is from 1881,^(OED 1989) and ''bed and breakfast'' from 1910.^(OED 1989) The verb meant “to provide with a bed” in Old English,^(Etymonline) “to go to bed” and “to have sex with” from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and “to lay out land in beds” from 1440.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – a bed.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 13th century – ''bed and board''.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – verb, to go to bed; to sleep with.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1440 – to plant in beds.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – the bottom of a body of water.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1680s – a geological stratum.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1910 – ''bed and breakfast''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A piece of furniture for sleeping or resting on.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A place to sleep; lodging for the night.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A plot of ground for growing plants.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The bottom of a body of water: ''a river bed''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A layer of rock; a [[stratum]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A foundation on which something rests.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put to bed or provide with a bed.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To have sex with.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To plant in a bed of soil.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To lay flat or in layers; to [[embed]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bedless]]

+ * [[bedlike]]

+ * [[embed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bedding]]

+ * [[bedroom]]

+ * [[bedrock]]

+ * [[bedstead]]

+ * [[fossil]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}