Etymograph

English

bait

Bait comes from Middle English bayte ‘Bait or lure’, from Proto-Germanic *baitijaną ‘to make bite’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‘to cleave, split, separate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeyd-‘to cleave, split, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéydt‘to split’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bītaną‘to bite’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baitijaną‘to make bite’reconstructed
  5. Old Norsec. 800–1350beita‘food, bait’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bayte‘Bait or lure’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1803bait

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeyd-‘to cleave, split, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéydt‘to split’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bītaną‘to bite’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baitijaną‘to make bite’reconstructed
  5. Old Norsec. 800–1350beita‘food, bait’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bayte‘Bait or lure’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1803bait

Earliest quotation: 1803, Jane Austen, London: John Murray: “The tediousness of a two hours' bait at Petty-France,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‘to cleave, split, separate’

boat, fiber, bitter, fibre, fission, fissure, feta, fissile, fettuccine, 25 more

through Proto-Germanic *bītaną ‘to bite’

bite, 7 more

through Proto-Germanic *baitijaną ‘to make bite’

bet, abet, 6 more

Another origin of bait

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeyd-‘to cleave, split, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baitijaną‘to cause to bite, bridle’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350beita‘to bait, cause to bite, feed, hunt’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bayten‘to bait or attack one's prey with a dog’
  5. Englishtodaybait

Today it means

noun Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- / bait

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