Etymograph

English

bun

Bun comes from Middle English bunne ‘wheat cake, bun’, from Anglo-Norman bugne ‘bump on the head’, and ultimately from Old French bugne.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bugne
  2. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400same form‘bump on the head’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bunne‘wheat cake, bun’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1996bun

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bugne
  2. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400same form‘bump on the head’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bunne‘wheat cake, bun’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1996bun

Earliest quotation: 1996, Richard Sandomir, Life for Real Dummies: A Reference for the Totally Clueless: “How 'bout I put my hot dog in your…”

Linked words

through Old French bugne

bunny, bunion

Another origin of bun

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-‘to be, become’uncertain
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*bonus‘foundation, base, butt’uncertain
  3. Old Irishc. 600–900bun‘the thick end of anything, base, butt, foot’uncertain
  4. Scottish Gaelicmodernsame form‘bottom, butt, stump, stub’uncertain
  5. Scotsc. 1450–presentsame form‘tail of a rabbit or hare’uncertain
  6. Englishtodaysame form

Probably from Scots bun (‘tail of a rabbit or hare’), which is probably from Scottish Gaelic bun (‘bottom, butt, stump, stub’).

Another origin of bun

  1. Chinesemodern分fèn‘fen’
  2. Koreanmodern분bun
  3. Englishtodaybun

Today it means

noun A small bread roll that is sweetened or spiced.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French bugne / bun

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