Etymograph

English

bailey

Bailey comes from Old French baile ‘palisade, enclosure’, from Latin bacula ‘diminutive of bāca: a small berry’, and ultimately from baculum ‘stick, rod’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbaculum‘stick, rod’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbacula‘diminutive of bāca: a small berry’plural of baculum
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400baile‘palisade, enclosure’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2023bailey

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbaculum‘stick, rod’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbacula‘diminutive of bāca: a small berry’plural of baculum
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400baile‘palisade, enclosure’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2023bailey

Earliest quotation: 2023, Why Birds Are Not Dinosaurs (And Why It Matters): “Birds are dinosaurs" is the bailey; "birds are more…”

Linked words

through Latin baculum ‘stick, rod’

debacle, baguette, imbecile, bacillus, 13 more

Today it means

noun The outer wall of a feudal castle.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin baculum / bailey

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