English
bone
Bone comes from Old English bān, from Proto-Germanic *bainą ‘bone’, from *bainaz ‘straight’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bainaz‘straight’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bainą‘bone, leg’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bain‘bone’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bān‘bone’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bon‘bone’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602bone
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bainaz‘straight’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bainą‘bone, leg’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bain‘bone’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bān‘bone’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bon‘bone’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602bone
Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “No Trophee, Sword, nor Hatchment o're his bones.”
The story
Related also to Old Norse beinn (‘straight, right, favourable, advantageous, convenient, friendly, fair, keen’) (whence Middle English bain, bayne, bayn, beyn (‘direct, prompt’), Scots bein, bien (‘in good condition, pleasant, well-to-do, cosy, well-stocked, pleasant, keen’)), Icelandic beinn (‘straight, direct, hospitable’), Norwegian bein (‘straight, direct, easy to deal with’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- ‘to hit, strike, beat’
through Proto-Germanic *bainą
through Middle English bon
Another origin of bone
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerH-‘to pierce, make a hole’uncertain
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*bornium‘one-eyed’reconstructed
- Frenchc. 1600–presentborgne‘one-eyed’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentbornoyer‘to look at with one eye, to sight’
- Englishtodaybone
Today it means
noun A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *bainaz / bone