bug English · revision 6752

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1622}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʌɡ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) It was probably influenced by Middle English [[m|enm|bugge|t=something frightening, scarecrow, bugbear]] (1388),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) which survives in [[bugbear]] and [[bugaboo]] and may be connected with Welsh [[m|cy|bwg|t=ghost, goblin]], but how is uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart and SOED note a proposed alternative source in Old English -budda, beetle (as in sćearnbudda, dung-beetle), with Low German budde, louse.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Insects of the order to which the bedbug belongs, first the bedbug itself: 1622;^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) the 1620s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Other insects, especially beetles, are called bugs from 1642.^(OED 1989) Word Origins notes that Americans use bug for animals the British would call insects, while in Britain it means the bedbug or the Hemiptera.^(Cresswell 2021) A person obsessed by an idea, as in ''fire bug'', is from 1841,^(OED 1989) and a defect in a machine or plan from 1889, originally American;^(OED 1989) the computing sense follows.^(AHD) A germ or illness is from the 20th century,^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) and a concealed microphone, with the verb ''to bug'' a room, is early 20th-century.^(SOED 2002) To annoy is from 1949, perhaps first in swing music slang.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1388 – bugge, a bugbear.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1622 – the bedbug.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1642 – any insect.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1841 – an enthusiast.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1889 – a defect.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1949 – to annoy.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[insect]] of the order Hemiptera, with mouthparts for piercing and sucking; a true bug.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chiefly US)'' Any insect or similar small creature.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A [[germ]], or a minor illness it causes.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A defect in a machine or system, especially an error in a computer program.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A hidden [[microphone]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' An enthusiasm or obsession: ''the travel bug''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fit a room or telephone with a hidden microphone.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' To annoy or bother.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bugger]]

+ * [[bug out]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bugbear]]

+ * [[bugaboo]]

+ * [[bogey]]

+ * [[bogle]]

+ * [[debug]]

+ * [[humbug]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate verb ''bug'', of eyes, to bulge (1872), perhaps from a dialect pronunciation of [[bulge]], gives ''bug-eyed''.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}