beard English · revision 8019

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825|origins=gem-pro *bardaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /bɪəd/, US /bɪrd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English berd, [[inh|ang|beard|t=beard]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Proto-Germanic *bardaz,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) source also of Dutch [[m|nl|baard]] and German [[m|de|Bart]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Pokorny relates it to Old Church Slavonic brada, Lithuanian barzda and perhaps Latin [[m|la|barba|t=beard]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) but Boutkan rejects this on phonetic grounds and suggests a non-Indo-European substrate word.^(Etymonline) Barnhart notes that the modern spelling developed from Middle English berd and matches Old English only by accident.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The hair on the chin and lower face: about 825, in the Vespasian Psalter;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) as the surname Berd from 1165.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A similar hairy growth on an animal is from about 1300.^(OED 1989) ''In spite of one's beard'', in direct defiance, is from 1330.^(OED 1989) The verb, to grow a beard, is from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and to confront boldly comes from Middle English phrases such as rennen in berd, oppose openly (about 1200).^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Word Origins traces ''to beard the lion in his den'' (mid-18th century) to David's seizing a lion by the beard in 1 Samuel 17:35.^(Cresswell 2021) The tuft of bristles on barley or wheat, an awn, is a botanical sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) In modern slang a beard is a person who accompanies another to hide their homosexuality.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – the beard.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1165 – Berd, a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – an animal's beard; the verb.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1330 – in spite of one's beard.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-18th century – beard the lion.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The hair that grows on a man's chin, cheeks and throat.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A similar growth on an animal, or a tuft of bristles on a plant such as [[barley]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' A person who acts as a cover for another.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To confront boldly.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bearded]]

+ * [[beardedness]]

+ * [[beardless]]

+ * [[beardlessness]]

+ * [[beardlike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[barber]]

+ * [[barbel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}