English
board
Board comes from Old English bord ‘board, plank’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *burdą.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burdą‘board’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bord‘board’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bord‘board’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500boord
- Englishearliest quotation 1590board
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*burdą‘board’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bord‘board’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bord‘board’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500boord
- Englishearliest quotation 1590board
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IV: “Ere long with like againe he boorded mee, /…”
A compound of *bʰers- ‘tip, top’ + *bʰerH- ‘to pierce’
The story
The senses "food" and "council" are by metonymy from the sense "table".
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *burdą ‘board, plank’
Today it means
noun A relatively long, wide and thin piece of any material, usually wood or similar, often for use in construction or furniture-making.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *burdą / board