English
budget
Budget comes from Old French bougette, diminutive of bouge ‘leather bag’, probably from Late Latin bulga ‘leather bag’, from Gaulish *bolgā.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰelǵʰ-uncertain
- Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*bolgā‘bag, sack’uncertain
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEbulga‘leather bag’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400bouge‘leather bag; purse’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400bougette
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bogett‘leather pouch’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590budget
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰelǵʰ-uncertain
- Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*bolgā‘bag, sack’uncertain
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEbulga‘leather bag’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400bouge‘leather bag; purse’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400bougette
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bogett‘leather pouch’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590budget
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto X: “With that out of his bouget forth he drew…”
The story
Recorded since 1432 as Middle English bogett, bouget, bowgette (‘leather pouch’), borrowed from Old French bougette, the diminutive of bouge (‘leather bag, wallet’) (also the root of bulge), itself from Late Latin bulga (‘leather bag, bellow’), which derives from Gaulish *bolgā (compare Old Irish bolg (‘bag’), Breton bolc’h (‘flax pod’)), a common root with the Germanic family (compare Dutch balg (‘bellows’)), from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ-.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- ‘to swell’
fool, belly, bloc, folly, bolster, bellows, follies, follicle, billow, 15 more
through Latin bulga ‘leather bag, bellow’
through Middle English bogett
Today it means
noun The amount of money or resources earmarked for a particular institution, activity or timeframe.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- / budget