English
bomb
Bomb comes from French bombe, from Italian bomba, from Latin bombus ‘a booming sound’, from Greek βόμβος ‘booming’, imitative of the sound.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβόμβος‘booming, humming’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbombus‘a booming sound’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbomba
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbombe
- Englishearliest quotation 1625bomb
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβόμβος‘booming, humming’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbombus‘a booming sound’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbomba
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbombe
- Englishearliest quotation 1625bomb
Earliest quotation: 1625, Ben Jonson: “What over-charged piece of melancholie / Is this, breakes…”
Every English word from Ancient Greek βόμβος
Today it means
noun An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek βόμβος / bomb