English
bean
Bean comes from Middle English bene, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *baunō.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baunōreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baunureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bēan
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bene
- Englishearliest quotation 1959bean
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baunōreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baunureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bēan
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bene
- Englishearliest quotation 1959bean
Earliest quotation: 1959, Maxwell Droke, You and the World to Come: “Now, there was a perfectly sound forecast for you.…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ-
through Middle English bene
Today it means
noun Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *baunō / bean