English
buoy
Buoy comes from Middle Dutch boeye ‘float, buoy’, from Frankish *baukn ‘beacon’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to glow, light, shine’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to glow, light, shine’disputed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baukną‘sign, symbol’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*baukn‘beacon’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400boue‘piece of wood or cork that floats above an anchor to indicate where it is anchored’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500boeye‘float, buoy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500boy
- Englishearliest quotation 1839buoy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to glow, light, shine’disputed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*baukną‘sign, symbol’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*baukn‘beacon’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400boue‘piece of wood or cork that floats above an anchor to indicate where it is anchored’
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500boeye‘float, buoy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500boy
- Englishearliest quotation 1839buoy
Earliest quotation: 1839, Charles Darwin, London: Henry Colburn: “Not one rock near the surface was discovered which…”
The story
Noun sense 2 was coined by American linguist Scott K.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to glow, light, shine’
phone, focus, professor, famous, fuel, ben, phase, favor, favourite, ban, fantasy, fate, fancy, fame, photographer, emphasis, phenomenon, profession, fatal, bee, fairy, abandon, infant, confession, fabulous, confess, phantom, symphony, boon, eff, fab, fay, bane, prophetic, epiphany, fable, banish, nefarious, profess, fantasia, 126 more
through Proto-Germanic *baukną ‘sign, symbol’
Today it means
noun A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, indicate a navigational channel or for other purposes
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- / buoy