Etymograph

English

bight

Bight comes from Old English byht ‘bend, angle, corner’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewgʰ-‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*beuganą‘to bend, bow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*buhtiz‘bend, curve’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buhtireconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150byht‘bend, angle, corner’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bight
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1899same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewgʰ-‘to bend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*beuganą‘to bend, bow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*buhtiz‘bend, curve’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buhtireconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150byht‘bend, angle, corner’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bight
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1899same form

Earliest quotation: 1899, Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness: “I could see every rib, the joints of their…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- ‘to bend’

buy, bought, bee, rainbow, bout, badge, bagel, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *beuganą ‘to bend, bow’

bow, bail, 1 more

Today it means

noun A corner, bend, or angle; a hollow

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- / bight

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