bitch English · revision 3365

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=ang bicce}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɪtʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bicche]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|bicce|t=female dog]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) related, perhaps by borrowing, to [[non|bikkja|t=female dog]], which is of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The Old Norse oath bikkju-sonr matches Middle English biche sone “son of a bitch”.^(Barnhart 1988) Grimm derived the Norse word from Sami pittja, but the OED says the reverse is just as possible.^(Etymonline) A link with French biche “hind” is unknown.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The female of the dog: about 1000.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The female of the fox, wolf and other animals is from 1555.^(OED 1989) As a term of contempt for a woman it dates from about 1400,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) and of a man, more playfully, from about 1500.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Grose's ''Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1811) called it the most offensive name one could give an Englishwoman.^(Etymonline) In some Scottish and northern dialects it was used of a woman with no disrespect.^(Wright 1898) The verb “to spoil, bungle” is from 1823,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and “to complain, grumble” from 1930 or before.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Chaucer's ''bicched bones'', “unlucky dice”, shows the Middle English adjective ''bicched'' “cursed, bad”.^(Etymonline) Something very difficult or unpleasant is a later colloquial sense.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – a female dog.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – a contemptuous term for a woman.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1500 – of a man.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1555 – the female of other animals.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1823 – verb, to bungle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1930 – verb, to complain.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A female dog, wolf, fox or [[otter]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(offensive)'' A spiteful or overbearing woman.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' Something very difficult or unpleasant.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' A complaint.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(informal)'' To complain; to grumble.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To spoil or bungle.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[superbitch]]

+ * [[bitchery]]

+ * [[bitchin']]

+ * [[bitchy]]

+ * [[bitch goddess]]

+ * [[son of a bitch]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}