bucket English · revision 8029

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1248|origins=xno buket}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbʌkɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English buket, [[bor|xno|buket|t=bucket, pail]], buquet,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps from Old English būc, pitcher, belly,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) or from a Frankish source;^(Etymonline) buckets were formerly made of leather as well as wood.^(Etymonline) Būc is from West Germanic *būk-, source also of German [[m|de|Bauch|t=belly]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) possibly from PIE *bʰew-, to swell.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A pail for water: 1248 in Barnhart, the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The vessel drawn up from a well and the fire bucket are early senses.^(OED 1989) The piston of a lift-pump is from 1634,^(OED 1989) a compartment on a water wheel from 1759,^(OED 1989) and a power scoop for dredging later in the 19th century.^(OED 1989) ''Bucketful'' is from before 1563.^(Barnhart 1988) ''To kick the bucket'', to die, is from 1785, perhaps from an unrelated bucket, a beam on which slaughtered animals were hung (1570s), from French buquet, a balance.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A ''bucket list'', of things one hopes to do before dying, is by 2007.^(Etymonline) The verb, to put in a bucket, is from 1640,^(MWU 2024) and to move rapidly and jerkily is an informal sense.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1248 – a pail.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1563 – bucketful.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1634 – a pump piston.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1785 – kick the bucket.^(Etymonline)

+ * 2007 – bucket list.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An open, roughly cylindrical container with a handle; a [[pail]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The amount a bucket holds.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A scoop or similar part on a machine, such as a mechanical shovel or water wheel.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To hold, carry or put in a bucket.^(AHD)

+ # ''(informal)'' To move fast and jerkily.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bucketful]]

+ * [[bucket list]]

+ * [[pail]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}