Etymograph

English

bedbug

From bed + bug.

A compound of bed + bug

Proto-Germanic *badją ‘resting-place’

Proto-West Germanic *badi ‘plot of ground’

Old English bedd

Middle English bed ‘a bed’

English bed

Middle English bugge ‘scarecrow, hobgoblin’

English bug

Today it means

noun A small nocturnal insect pest of humans, of species Cimex lectularius (common bedbug) and Cimex hemipterus (tropical bedbug) that feeds on the blood of humans during sleep.

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

Etymograph / bedbug

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