bay English · revision 3703

15 Oct 2026, 19:57 by bogdan “en10k b0116–b0117 (parliament … guard)” current version
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+ English has five main words spelled ''bay'': the bark of hounds, a section of a building, the reddish-brown colour of horses, the laurel tree and the inlet of the sea, each borrowed separately from French.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /beɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+ 
+ {{homograph|1|barking}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=fro abaier}}
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ The barking is [[inh|enm|bay]], partly a shortening of earlier abay,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|fro|abai|t=barking]], from [[m|fro|abaier|t=to bark]] or baier,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) probably imitative of the sound;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) Barnhart thinks it may have been influenced by Medieval Latin batare “to gape”.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline compares Greek bauzein and Latin baubārī “to bark” and English [[bow-wow]].^(Etymonline) The verb is aphetic of Middle English abayen, from Old French abaier.^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The chorus of barking raised by hounds in close conflict with the hunted animal: about 1300 in the OED and Etymonline,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) in Barnhart as abay “at bay with barking dogs”, in ''Guy of Warwick''.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ From the hunted animal's position comes the sense “final encounter”.^(Etymonline) Turning to face the danger when escape is impossible gave the phrase ''at bay'', from about 1314.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''To keep at bay'', of the hunted animal holding off the hounds, is from about 1532,^(OED 1989) and in the figurative sense of holding something at a distance it is still common.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) The verb, to bark, is from the late 14th century;^(Etymonline) Barnhart finds bayen in ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' about 1390.^(Barnhart 1988) To ''bay for blood'', to call loudly for punishment, is from the early 20th century.^(Cresswell 2021)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1300 – barking of hounds.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * c. 1314 – ''at bay''.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1390 – verb, to bark.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1530 – a dog's deep prolonged bark.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1532 – ''to keep at bay''.^(OED 1989)
+ * early 20th century – ''to bay for blood''.^(Cresswell 2021)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A deep, long [[bark]], like that of [[hound|alt=hounds]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # The position of a hunted animal [[corner|alt=cornered]] and forced to turn and fight.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # The position of being held off: ''to keep at bay''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
+ ===Verb===
+ # To bark or [[howl]] with a deep, long sound.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # To pursue with barking; to bring to bay.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
+ {{homograph|2|section of a building}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1325|origins=la-med batare}}
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ The section of a building is [[bor|fro|baee|t=opening, hole]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the noun use of the feminine past participle of [[m|fro|baer|t=to gape, stand open]] (later bayer),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-med|batare|t=to gape]], perhaps imitative.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The same verb is the source, through Old French baif “open-mouthed”, of [[bevel]].^(Cresswell 2021)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ An opening in a wall, especially the space between two columns: about 1325 in the OED,^(OED 1989) the late 14th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and probably about 1380 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ A division of a barn is from 1557,^(OED 1989) and a compartment for storage from the 1550s.^(Etymonline) The idea of a recess gave the horse-bay or stall and the ''sick-bay'' of a ship, from 1582.^(OED 1989) A [[bay window]], set in a recess, is from 1405 in Barnhart^(Barnhart 1988) and the early 15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The word has been somewhat confused with the bay that is an inlet of the sea.^(Etymonline) A side line at a railway station is from 1906,^(OED 1989) and a section of a trench from 1916.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1325 – an opening in a wall.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1405 – ''bay window''.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1557 – a division of a barn.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1582 – a recess, a sick-bay.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1906 – a railway siding.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A part of a building marked off by [[column|alt=columns]] or [[pilaster|alt=pilasters]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A [[bay window]], or a recess in a wall.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A compartment set aside for a purpose, as in a barn, garage or aircraft: ''a loading bay''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A [[sickbay]].^(AHD)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[bay window]]
+ * [[sickbay]]
+ 
+ {{homograph|3|reddish-brown}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1341|origins=la badius}}
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ The colour is [[bor|xno|bai]], Old French bai,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|badius|t=chestnut-brown]], used only of horses,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*badyo-|t=yellow, brown]],^(Etymonline) the source also of Old Irish buide “yellow”.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Reddish-brown: 1341 in Barnhart, through Anglo-Latin and Anglo-French;^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates it to the mid-14th century, usually of horses,^(Etymonline) and the OED to about 1374.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The colour was generally used of horses, taking in various shades such as bright bay and blood bay, and only rarely of other things.^(OED 1989) As a noun, short for a bay horse, it is from 1535.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1341 – reddish-brown.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1535 – a bay horse.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Reddish-brown, especially of a [[horse]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
+ ===Noun===
+ # A reddish-brown horse, especially one with a black [[mane]] and tail.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A reddish-brown colour.^(AHD)
+ 
+ {{homograph|4|laurel}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1373|origins=la bāca}}
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ The laurel is [[bor|fro|baie|t=berry, seed]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|bāca|t=berry]], also bacca,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) Barnhart takes it as probably from a non-Indo-European language and related to the name of the Thracian wine god Bacchus;^(Barnhart 1988) de Vaan finds the link with Bacchus difficult, and some linguists compare Berber *bqa “blackberry” and suggest a borrowing from a lost Mediterranean language.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A berry, especially that of the laurel: 1373 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and 1398 in the OED.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The word first meant only the berry.^(Etymonline) It was extended to the tree itself, the bay laurel, in the 1520s in Etymonline^(Etymonline) or 1530 in the OED,^(OED 1989) with Barnhart dating it probably about 1425.^(Barnhart 1988) Its leaves were woven into wreaths for conquerors and poets, which gave the sense “honorary crown or garland” in the 1560s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and so “honour, renown”.^(AHD) The [[bayberry]] (1570s) was coined after the original sense had shifted to the tree,^(Etymonline) and the [[bay leaf]] is from the 1630s in Etymonline^(Etymonline) or about 1450 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1373 – a berry.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1520s – the laurel tree.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1564 – leaves woven into a wreath.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1570s – ''bayberry''.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1630s – ''bay leaf''.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The [[laurel]] tree, Laurus nobilis, whose leaves are used in cooking.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # Any of various similar trees or shrubs with fragrant leaves.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # A wreath of laurel given as an honour; hence, fame.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[bay leaf]]
+ * [[bayberry]]
+ 
+ {{homograph|5|inlet}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1385|origins=fro baie}}
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ The inlet is [[inh|enm|baye]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|fro|baie]], of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Whether the Old French word comes from Late Latin baia or from a Frisian *baga is disputed;^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart thinks it likely that it developed from baer “to open”, from Medieval Latin batare, as Corominas suggests, and that Isidore of Seville's Late Latin baia was a mistake based on the port of Baiae in Campania.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline takes it from Late Latin baia, the source of Spanish and Portuguese bahia, perhaps from Iberian;^(Etymonline) the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins traces it to Old Spanish bahia, but no further.^(Cresswell 2021)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ An indentation of the sea into the land with a wide mouth: 1385 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1400 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) probably before 1400 in Trevisa's translation of Higden's ''Polychronicon'' according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ A recess in a range of hills is from 1853,^(OED 1989) and in American use an arm of prairie partly surrounded by woods from 1850.^(OED 1989) An indentation or projection of the land into the sea, from 1611, is now obsolete and perhaps a distinct word.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1385 – an inlet of the sea.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1850 – an arm of prairie.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1853 – a recess in hills.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A body of water partly enclosed by land, with a wide mouth to the sea; a broad [[inlet]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ # An area of land partly enclosed by woodland or hills.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[bevel]]
+ * [[bawl]]
+ * [[laurel]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ In southern English dialect, from Kent to Devon, a ''bay'' was a dam or embankment holding back water,^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989) a sense Merriam-Webster dates to the 14th century.^(MWU 2024)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}