English
bonnie
Bonnie comes from Middle English *bonie.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*boniereconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599bonnie
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*boniereconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599bonnie
Earliest quotation: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “Be you blithe and bonny Converting all your sounds…”
The story
From Middle English *bonie (attested only rarely as bon, boun), probably from Old French bon, feminine bonne (‘good’), from Latin bonus (‘good’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to fit’
down, town, tool, teen, dynamic, dynasty, tow, dun, dynamo, dynastic, tine, taw, beaucoup, beauteous, 91 more
through Proto-Italic *dwenos ‘good’
beautiful, beauty, rebellion, beau, boo, rebellious, bello, rebelling, benefice, bauble, 36 more
through Archaic Latin duenos
ben, beneficial, rebel, beneficiary, revel, bene, bellicose, 37 more
through Latin bonus ‘good’
optimal, bonus, optimism, bona, 14 more
through Old French bon ‘good (not evil)’
Today it means
adj Merry; happy.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English *bonie / bonnie