bed
/bɛd/
noun
Origin
Proto-Germanic
*badjō — a dug-out hollow
Overview
Meaning Now
- a piece of furniture for sleep or rest
- a plot of ground in a garden
- the bottom of a river or other body of water
Literal older meaning
a hole dug in the ground
Language path
Old English → Middle English → Modern English
Earliest form
bedd
Earliest period
Old English (8th-9th century)
Journey
Originally, beds were holes dug in the ground, often lined with animal skins. Over time, they became raised furniture.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*bʰed-
“to pierce, to dig”
reconstructed root
- Proto-Germanic
*badjō
“bed (hollow in ground)”
from PIE *bʰed-
- Old English
bedd
“bed, hollow”
neuter strong stem
- Middle English
bed
“bed”
loss of inflection
- Modern English
bed
“bed”
current form
Connections
Word parts
bed
root
a place for sleep
Related across languages
German
Bett
bed
Dutch
bed
Gothic
badi
bed
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Related to bed
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.