busy English · revision 3397

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1000|origins=ang bisig}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɪz.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bisi]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|bisiġ|t=careful, anxious, occupied]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) cognate with Middle Dutch besich (Dutch bezig) and Middle Low German besich “busy”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) but with no known connection to any other Germanic or Indo-European word.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The verb is [[inh|ang|bisgian|t=to attend to, be concerned with]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Careful, anxious, occupied: before 1000.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is still pronounced as in Middle English, but the spelling with ''u'', very rare in Middle English, became common in the 16th century for no clear reason, perhaps through a printer.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The sense of anxiousness has drained from the word since Middle English.^(Etymonline) In early modern English it was often used in a bad sense, “prying, meddlesome”, preserved in [[busybody]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and in the 17th century it was a euphemism for “sexually active”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) “Full of activity”, of places and things, is from the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986) Of telephone lines it is from 1884 in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and 1893 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and of design or decoration, “too detailed, cluttered”, from 1903.^(Etymonline) The verb, “to keep occupied”, is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A ''busy'' was slang for a detective from 1904.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – careful, occupied.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – verb, to keep busy.^(Etymonline)

+ * 16th century – the spelling ''busy''; meddlesome.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1612 – euphemistic, sexually active.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1884 – of a telephone line.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1903 – visually cluttered.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1904 – noun, a detective.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Actively engaged in work or another activity; occupied.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Full of activity: ''a busy street''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of a telephone line, in use; [[engaged]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Too detailed or [[clutter|alt=cluttered]]: ''a busy design''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # [[meddlesome|alt=Meddlesome]]; prying.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To keep oneself or another occupied.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[busily]]

+ * [[busyness]]

+ * [[business]]

+ * [[superbusy]]

+ * [[nonbusy]]

+ * [[busybody]]

+ * [[overbusy]]

+ * [[unbusy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary compares ''busy'', the most general word, with ''industrious'', ''diligent'', ''assiduous'' and ''sedulous'', which suggest more sustained or careful effort.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}