Etymograph

English

bent

Bent comes from Old English *beonot ‘coarse grass, bent grass’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *binut ‘reed, rush’.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*binut‘reed, rush’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*beonot‘coarse grass, bent grass’reconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bent
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1627same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*binut‘reed, rush’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*beonot‘coarse grass, bent grass’reconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bent
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1627same form

Earliest quotation: 1627, Michael Drayton, Nymphidia: “His spear a bent, both stiff and strong.”

The story

From Middle English bent, benet, from Old English *beonot (attested only in place-names and personal names), from Proto-West Germanic *binut (‘reed, rush’), of uncertain origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *binut

Today it means

noun Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.

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

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *binut / bent

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