English
bay
Bay comes from French baie, from Late Latin baia, probably ultimately of Iberian or Basque origin.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEbaia
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbaie‘bay’
- Englishearliest quotation 1913bay
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEbaia
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbaie‘bay’
- Englishearliest quotation 1913bay
Earliest quotation: 1913, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, New York: “'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres,…”
The story
Partly displaced native Old English byht, whence bight.
Every English word from Late Latin baia
Another origin of bay
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbāca‘various small fruit of trees and shrubs: a berry, stone fruit’next step skipped: Old English beġ
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400baie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500baye
- Englishtodaybay
Another origin of bay
- Early Medieval Latinmodernbatāre
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400beer‘gape open’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400baee
- Englishtodaybay
Another origin of bay
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bodyos‘yellow, brown’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbadius‘reddish brown, chestnut’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400bai
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bay
- Englishtodaysame form
Today it means
noun A body of water (especially the sea) contained by a concave shoreline.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin baia / bay