bottle English · revision 4385

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1375|origins=la-lat buttis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈbɒt.əl/, US /ˈbɑː.t̬əl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|botel]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|boteille|t=wine vessel]], bouteille (12th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-med|butticula]] (Vulgar Latin *butticula, also the source of Spanish botella and Italian bottiglia),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) a diminutive of Late Latin buttis “cask, wineskin”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) which is perhaps from Greek.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[butt]] “cask” and [[butler]], first the servant in charge of the bottles.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A narrow-necked vessel for liquids, at first of leather: about 1375 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1380 in Barnhart, in Sir Ferumbras,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The compound botelmaker is from 1346.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spelling with tt appears in the late 15th century.^(Barnhart 1988) Biblical phrases with bottle, after Job and Matthew, are from 1560.^(OED 1989) ''The bottle'', figuratively strong drink, is from the 17th century,^(Etymonline) and the quantity a bottle holds from 1687.^(OED 1989) The verb meant to store up as if in a bottle in 1622, figuratively, and to put in bottles in 1641;^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart notes that a verb appearing some 250 years after the noun suggests a gap in the record.^(Barnhart 1988) A baby's feeding bottle is from 1848, and a hot-water bottle from 1857.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Bottle-washer'' is from 1837 and ''bottle-opener'' from 1875.^(Etymonline) British slang ''bottle'', courage, nerve, and ''lose one's bottle'' are from the 1950s, perhaps from rhyming slang bottle and glass “arse”.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1346 – botelmaker.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1375 – a bottle.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 15th century – the spelling with tt.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1622 – verb, figurative.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1641 – verb, to put in bottles.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1687 – a bottleful.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1848 – a baby's bottle.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1950s – slang, courage.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A container, usually of [[glass]] or plastic, with a narrow neck and a mouth that can be closed.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The amount a bottle holds.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A bottle of milk or formula for feeding a baby.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''the bottle'': alcoholic drink, or the habit of drinking it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(British slang)'' Courage, nerve.^(COED 2004)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put into bottles.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''bottle up'': to hold in or [[restrain]] (feelings).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(British slang)'' ''bottle out'': to lose one's nerve.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bottler]]

+ * [[bottleful]]

+ * [[bottlelike]]

+ * [[bottling]]

+ * [[rebottle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[butler]]

+ * [[butt]]

+ * [[bottleneck]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A dialect bottle, a bundle of hay or straw, is a different word, from French botel, a diminutive of bote “bundle”.^(MWU 2024)^(Wright 1898) Bottle “dwelling”, from Old English, survives only in place-names such as Harbottle and Walbottle.^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}