English
buy
Buy comes from Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan ‘to buy’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną ‘to buy’, of uncertain origin.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bugjaną‘to buy’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buggjan‘to buy’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bycġan‘to buy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500byen‘to buy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1593buy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bugjaną‘to buy’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buggjan‘to buy’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bycġan‘to buy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500byen‘to buy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1593buy
Earliest quotation: 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […]: “VVhat villaine, doſt ſtrike me? I ſweare by the…”
The story
The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- ‘to bend’
bought, bow, bee, rainbow, bout, badge, bail, bagel, bight, 3 more
Today it means
verb To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *bugjaną / buy