bot English · revision 39505

+ English has two main words spelled ''bot'': the larva of the botfly, a word of uncertain origin, and a shortening of [[robot]].^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /bɑt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * UK: /bɒt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|larva}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=c. 1465, a treatise on the care of horses}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The larva is of uncertain origin.^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966) The AHD, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Collins think it probably came from Low German,^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010)^(Collins 2023) and the Shorter Oxford and Dictionary.com compare [[nl|bot]] and [[fy|botten]] (plural), adding that its further origin is obscure.^(SOED 2002)^(Dictionary.com 2016) Merriam-Webster suggests instead an alteration of [[gd|boiteag|t=maggot]].^(MWU 2024) Weekley compared [[ang|budda|t=beetle, weevil]],^(Weekley 1921) while the OED finds a link with [[bite]] unlikely on phonological grounds.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A parasitic worm or maggot, especially one infesting horses, in a treatise on the care of horses of about 1465;^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster also dates it to the 15th century,^(MWU 2024) while Etymonline gives the 1520s and the Shorter Oxford the early 16th century.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1513, in Skelton, a person or thing could be called a bot as a parasite or pest.^(OED 2026) From 1584 to 1869 the plural was used in curses and exclamations of annoyance such as "a bots on him", like the similar curses with [[pox]].^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) In Scotland from 1718 ''the bots'' meant colic or a bowel complaint.^(OED 2026) The parasite sense gave Australian and New Zealand slang a word for a habitual borrower or scrounger (1916),^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) which gave the verb ''to bot'', to cadge (1921), with ''bot on'', to impose on someone (1930).^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) In New Zealand from 1937 ''the bot'' was a germ and later any minor illness, such as a cold.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) In Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Cornwall dialect, gardeners called any grub that lives underground a bot.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1465 – a parasitic worm or maggot.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1513 – a person seen as a parasite or pest (Skelton).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1584 – in curses such as "a bots on —" (until 1869).^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1718 – ''the bots'', colic (Scottish).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1916 – a cadger or scrounger (Australia and New Zealand).^(OED 2026)^(GDoS)

+ * 1921 – the verb, to cadge.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1937 – a germ or minor illness (New Zealand).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[larva]] of a [[botfly]], which lives as a [[parasite]] inside horses, sheep and other animals.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(in the plural, with the)'' A disease of livestock caused by these larvae.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(Australia, New Zealand, informal)'' A person who habitually borrows or [[cadge|alt=cadges]]; a [[scrounger]].^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(New Zealand, informal)'' A mild illness, such as a cold.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(Australia, New Zealand, informal)'' To cadge or scrounge something; with ''on'', to impose on someone.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[botfly]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|robot}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1969, Amazing Stories}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The automated sense is a shortening of [[robot]],^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) first used in science fiction;^(OED 2026) the OED compares the slightly earlier combining form [[-bot]].^(OED 2026) Etymonline notes that the modern word only happens to resemble the older ones, and that making new slang by cutting off the front of a word is neither old nor common in English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A robot, 1969, in a science-fiction story in ''Amazing Stories''.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dictionary.com dates the word to the late 1980s.^(Dictionary.com 2016) From 1990, first in a Usenet group about online multi-user games, it named an automated program on a computer network, often one that imitates a human user;^(OED 2026) the Shorter Oxford describes it as an autonomous program on the Internet, especially one that acts like a player in an adventure game.^(SOED 2002) Etymonline dates the internet sense to about 2000.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1969 – a robot (science fiction).^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1985–90 – Dictionary.com's date for the word.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+ * 1990 – an automated program on a network.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 2000 – Etymonline's date for the internet sense.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[robot]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(computing)'' A [[program]] that carries out automated tasks on a network, especially one that imitates a human user, for example in a [[chat]] or an online game.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[botnet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[robot]]

+ * [[bottom]]

+ * [[bottle]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two shorter slang words are also spelled ''bot'': a nursery and jocular word for the buttocks, a shortening of [[bottom]] first recorded in Joyce's ''Ulysses'' (1922),^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(GDoS) and a shortening of [[bottle]], recorded from 1736, at first as a written abbreviation,^(OED 2026) and in American slang from 1895.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}