bad
/bæd/
adjective
Origin
Middle English
badde — wicked, worthless
Overview
Meaning Now
- Of poor quality or low standard.
- Morally reprehensible or wicked.
- Harmful, adverse, or causing significant difficulty.
Language path
Proto-Germanic → Middle English → English
Earliest form
badde
Earliest period
13th century
Journey
The word 'bad' is linguistically mysterious. It replaced the Old English word 'yfel' (evil) and 'wyrs' (worse) in many contexts but lacks cognates in other Germanic languages, leading to theories that it might have originated from an obscure Old English root or as a term of contempt.
Evolution
- 13th century
badde
“wicked, vicious, evil”
First recorded occurrence.
- 14th century
badde
“of poor quality”
Extended usage from moral character to quality of objects.
- 16th century
bad
“unfavorable, harmful”
Spelling modernizes to current form.
Connections
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Related to bad
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.