bud English · revision 7973

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=before 1398}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʌd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English budde, bodde,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) of unknown or uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Possible cognates include Dutch bot, bud, Middle Low German buddich, swollen, and Old High German būtil, German [[m|de|Beutel|t=bag]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and it may be from Old French boter, to push forward, itself Germanic,^(Etymonline) or akin to Old English budda, beetle.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An undeveloped growth on a plant: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, to put forth buds, is from about 1400 (probably 1408).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Something immature or undeveloped is from 1579, and of children or young people, or as a term of endearment, from 1595.^(OED 1989) The rudiment of a horn is from 1593.^(OED 1989) A weaned calf of its first year is a sense of 1662, still dialectal,^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898) and a debutante, a ''bud of promise'', from 1880.^(OED 1989) In zoology, an outgrowth that develops into a new organism, as in hydra, is from 1836–39.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1398 – a plant bud.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – the verb.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1595 – a young person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1662 – a yearling calf.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1880 – a debutante.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small swelling on a plant stem containing an undeveloped leaf, [[shoot]] or [[flower]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something small or not yet developed.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(biology)'' An outgrowth, as on [[yeast]], that develops into a new individual.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To produce buds, or to begin to develop.^(AHD)

+ # To graft a bud onto a plant.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[budder]]

+ * [[budless]]

+ * [[budlike]]

+ * [[redbud]]

+ * [[budwood]]

+ * [[budworm]]

+ * [[disbud]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[budding]]

+ * [[rosebud]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Bud, a familiar form of address to a man or boy, is a separate word, short for [[buddy]] (1851),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD) which Hoad takes as a childish alteration of [[brother]].^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}