bunch English · revision 4384

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1325|origins=fro bonge}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʌntʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bunche]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) of uncertain origin.^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) Barnhart and Etymonline derive it from Old French (Walloon) bonge “bundle”, a nasalized form of bouge, from Flemish bondje “little bundle”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster Unabridged compares Dutch bonk “lump, cluster” and Old Norse bunga “hump”.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A protuberance, especially a hump on the body: about 1325 in the OED.^(OED 1989) A little bundle is from about 1350 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and a hump or swelling from about 1390.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A bundle of straw is from about 1450.^(OED 1989) A cluster of things of the same kind, as of grapes or flowers, is from the mid-15th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1570 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and the looser “a lot, a group of any kind”, including people, from the 1620s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb, “to bulge out”, is from before 1398, in Trevisa's Bartholomew,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) “to gather into a bunch” from 1828, and “to crowd together” from 1850.^(Etymonline) In dialect a bunch was also a measure of wheat or other produce.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1325 – a hump.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1350 – a little bundle.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * a. 1398 – verb, to bulge.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-15th century – a cluster.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – a group, lot.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1828 – to gather into a bunch.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1850 – to crowd together.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of things growing or fastened together; a [[cluster]]: ''a bunch of grapes''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' A group of people: ''a friendly bunch''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' A large number or amount: ''a bunch of work''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A lump or swelling.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To gather into a bunch or [[group]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To gather (fabric) into folds.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bunchy]]

+ * [[bunchberry]]

+ * [[bunchflower]]

+ * [[bunchgrass]]

+ * [[honeybunch]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bundle]]

+ * [[bunched]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate obsolete bunch meant a punch or thump, from 1642, with a verb “to strike, thump” from 1362.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}