Etymograph

English

bellows

Bellows comes from Proto-West Germanic *balgi ‘belly’, from Proto-Germanic *balgiz ‘bag’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- ‘to swell’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰelǵʰ-‘to swell’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰólǵʰisreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*balgiz‘bag’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*balgi‘belly’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bielġ
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bely
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500belwes
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1846bellows

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰelǵʰ-‘to swell’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰólǵʰisreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*balgiz‘bag’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*balgi‘belly’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bielġ
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bely
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500belwes
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1846bellows

Earliest quotation: 1846, – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens: “Why, who should J. B. mean by Joe, but…”

The story

For the pronunciation /ˈbɛl.əs/, compare bodice, gallows.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- ‘to swell’

budget, fool, bloc, bolster, bulge, budge, folly, follies, follicle, billow, 14 more

through Middle English bely

belly

Today it means

noun A device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location. At its most simple terms a bellows is a container which is deformable in such a way as to alter its volume which has an outlet or outlets where one wishes to blow air.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- / bellows

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