Etymology dictionary

bond (n.) — boozy (adj.)

bond (n.)

early 13c., "anything that binds, fastens, or confines," a phonetic variant of band (n.1) and at first interchangeable with it. For vowel change, see long (adj.); also influenced by unrelated Old English bonda "householder," literally "dweller" (see bond (adj.)).

It preserves more distinctly than band the connection with bind and bound (adj.1) and is now the main or only form in the sense of "restraining or uniting force."

From early 14c. as "an agreement or covenant;" from late 14c. as "a binding or uniting power or influence." The legalistic sense of "an instrument binding one to pay a sum to another" is recorded by 1590s. The meaning "a method of laying bricks in courses" is from 1670s. In chemistry, of atoms, by 1900.

bond (v.)

1670s, "to put in a bond" (transitive), from bond (n.). The intransitive sense of "hold together from being bonded" is from 1836. Originally of things; of persons by 1969.

bonded (adj.)

"legally confirmed or secured by bond," 1590s, from bond (v.).

bonding (n.)

"a binding or connecting together," 1670s, originally in the laying of bricks, stones, etc.; verbal noun from bond (v.)).

bond (adj.)

c. 1300, "in a state of a serf, unfree," from bond (n.) "tenant, farmer holding land under a lord in return for customary service; a married bond as head of a household" (mid-13c.). The Old English form was bonda, bunda "husbandman, householder," but the Middle English word probably is from Old Norse *bonda, a contraction of boande, buande "occupier and tiller of soil, peasant, husbandman," a noun from the past participle of bua, boa "to dwell" (from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow").

"In the more despotic Norway and Denmark, bo'ndi became a word of contempt, denoting the common low people. ... In the Icelandic Commonwealth the word has a good sense, and is often used of the foremost men ...." [OED]. The sense of the noun deteriorated in English after the Conquest and the rise of the feudal system, from "free farmer" to "serf, slave" (c. 1300) and the word became associated with unrelated bond (n.) and bound (adj.1).

bondage (n.)

c. 1300, "legal condition of a serf or slave," from Middle English bond "a serf, tenant farmer," from Old English bonda "householder," from or cognate with Old Norse boandi "free-born farmer," noun use of present participle of boa "dwell, prepare, inhabit," from PIE *bhow-, from root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow." For sense evolution, see bond (adj.). The sexual sado-masochism sense is recorded by 1963 (in a New York law against publications portraying it).

bondman (n.)

mid-13c., "husband, husbandman," from Middle English bond "tenant farmer" (see bond (adj.)) + man (n.). Later, "man in bondage, male slave" (mid-14c.). Bondmaid is from 1520s as "slave-girl."

bondsman (n.)

"one who stands surety by bond," 1754, from bond (n.) + man (n.), with genitive -s- added probably in part to avoid confusion with bondman.

bone (n.)

Middle English bon, from Old English ban "bone, tusk, hard animal tissue forming the substance of the skeleton; one of the parts which make up the skeleton," from Proto-Germanic *bainan (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon ben, Old Norse bein, Danish ben, German Bein). Absent in Gothic, with no cognates outside Germanic (the common PIE root is *ost-); the Norse, Dutch, and German cognates also mean "shank of the leg," and this is the main meaning in Modern German, but English seems never to have had this sense.

To work (one's) fingers to the bone is from 1809. To have a bone to pick (1560s) is an image of a dog struggling to crack or gnaw a bone (to pick a bone "strip a bone by picking or gnawing" is attested from late 15c.); to be a bone of contention (1560s) is of two dogs fighting over a bone; the images seem to have become somewhat merged. Also compare bones.

Bone-china, which is mixed with bone-dust, is so called by 1854. Bone-shaker (1874) was an old name for the early type of bicycle, before rubber tires.

bone (v.2)

especially in bone up "study," 1880s student slang, probably from or reinforced by "Bohn's Classical Library," the popular series in higher education published by German-born English publisher Henry George Bohn (1796-1884) as part of a broad series of "libraries" he issued from 1846, totaling 766 volumes, continued after 1864 by G. Bell & Sons. The other guess is that it is an allusion to knuckle-bones and has the same figurative sense as the colloquial verbal phrase knuckle down "get to work."

bone (v.1)

"remove the bones of," late 15c., from bone (n.). Related: Boned; boning.

bones (n.)

late Old English, "the bony structure of the body; bones of the body collectively," plural of bone (n.). The extended sense of "basic outline or framework" (of a plot, etc.) is from 1888. As a colloquial way to say "dice," it is attested from late 14c. (dice anciently were made from the knucklebones of animals). As a nickname for "a surgeon," it dates to 1887, short for sawbones.

Formerly also "pieces of bone or ivory struck or rattled to accompany music" (1590s; compare marrow-bones and cleavers under cleaver (n.)). Hence the nickname Bones for one of the end-men in a minstrel ensemble.

The figurative phrase make bones about "take exception to, be unable to swallow" (mid-15c.) refers to fish bones found in soup, etc. To feel something in (one's) bones "have a presentiment" is 1867, American English.

bone-fish (n.)

also bonefish, a name given to various fishes, 1734, from bone (n.) + fish (n.).

bonehead (n.)

"stupid person," 1908, from bone (n.) + head (n.). Compare blockhead, meathead. Bone-headed "ignorant" is from 1903. Earlier it was used in reference to types of primitive spears or harpoons.

boneless (adj.)

"without bones," late Old English, from bone (n.) + -less. In Middle English attested only in the phrase bloodless and boneless "without vitality; lifeless." T. Browne (1646) has exosseous for "boneless."

boner (n.)

"blunder," 1912, baseball slang, probably from bonehead. The meaning "erect penis" is 1950s, from earlier bone-on (1940s), which is probably a variation (with connecting notion of "hardness") of hard-on (1893).

boneyard (n.)

also bone-yard, "a knacker's yard, grounds around a slaughtering house," 1835, from bone (n.) + yard (n.1). Also, colloquially, "a cemetery."

bonfire (n.)

late 14c., bonfir, banefire, "a fire in which bones are burned;" see bone (n.) + fire (n.). The original specific sense became obsolete and was forgotten by 18c. The general sense of "large open-air fire from any material for public amusement or celebration" is by mid-16c. and that of "large fire for any purpose" from 17c.

bong (n.2)

"water pipe for marijuana," 1960s, U.S. slang, said to have been introduced by Vietnam War veterans and said to be from Thai baung, literally "cylindrical wooden tube."

bong (n.1)

bell-sound, 1918, imitative.

bongo (n.)

"one of a pair of attached small drums held between the knees and played with the fingers," 1920, from American Spanish (West Indies, especially Cuba), from a word of West African origin, such as Lokele (Zaire) boungu. Related: Bongos.

bonhomie (n.)

"frank and simple good nature," 1803, from French bonhomie "good nature, easy temper," from bonhomme "good man" (with unusual loss of -m-), from bon "good" (see bon) + homme "man," from Latin homo "man" (see homunculus). The native equivalent to bonhomme is goodman. Bonhomme as "member of an order of begging friars" is from 1620s.

bony (adj.)

"of, like, or full of bones," late 14c., from bone (n.) + -y (2). Related: Boniness.

Boniface

masc. proper name. Saint Boniface (c. 675-754) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to the continental Germanic peoples.

The general use of the name for "innkeeper" (by 1803) is from Will Boniface, the innkeeper character in George Farquhar's popular comedy "The Beaux' Stratagem" (1707).

bonito (n.)

type of large, tropical sea-fish, 1590s, from Spanish bonito, probably literally "the good one," diminutive of bueno "good," from Latin bonus "good" (see bonus).

bonjour (interj.)

1570s, French, literally "good day," from bon "good," from Latin bonus "good" (see bonus) + jour "day" (see journey (n.)).

bonk (v.)

"to hit," 1931, probably of imitative origin; it is attested by 1975 in the sense of "have sexual intercourse with." Related: Bonked; bonking. As a noun from 1938; in the sexual sense by 1984.

bonkers (adj.)

"crazy," 1957, British slang, perhaps from earlier naval slang meaning "slightly drunk" (1948), from notion of a thump ("bonk") on the head.

bon mot (n.)

"witticism, clever or witty saying," 1735, French, literally "good word," from bon "good" + mot "remark, short speech," literally "word" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *muttum, from Latin muttire "to mutter, mumble, murmur" (see mutter (v.)). The plural is bons mots.

bonnet (n.)

early 15c., "kind of cap or bonnet worn by men and women," from Old French bonet, short for chapel de bonet, a cap made from bonet "kind of cloth used as a headdress" (12c., Modern French bonnet), from Medieval Latin bonitum, bonetum "material for hats," which is perhaps a shortening of Late Latin abonnis "a kind of cap" (7c.), which is perhaps from a Germanic source. (If that is correct, a chapel de bonet would be etymologically a "cap made of cap").

As a form of head-covering worn by women out-of-doors, bonnet is attested from late 15c. As a type of mechanical covering device, by 1862.

bonny (adj.)

"pleasing, good-looking," "a gen. Scottish epithet of appreciation" [OED], but often used ironically, attested from 1540s, of unknown origin; presumably from Old French bon, bone "good" (see bon). Related: Bonnily; bonniness.

bonnyclabber (n.)

also bonny-clabber, "clotted or coagulated soured milk," 1620s (in shortened form clabber), from Modern Irish bainne "milk" (from Middle Irish banne "drop," also, rarely, "milk"; cognate with Sanskrit bindu- "drop") + claba "thick." Compare Irish and Gaelic clabar "mud," which sometimes has made its way into English (Yeats, etc.).

bonobo (n.)

pygmy chimpanzee, 1954, from a native name.

bonsai (n.)

"intentionally dwarfed potted tree," 1914, from Japanese, from bon "basin, pot" + sai "to plant."

bon soir (interj.)

French, "good evening;" see bon + soiree.

bonus (n.)

"money or other benefit given as a premium or extra pay to reward or encourage work," 1773, a phrase in "Stock Exchange Latin" [Weekley], taken as "a good thing," from Latin bonus "good" (adj.), perhaps originally "useful, efficient, working," from Proto-Italic *dw-eno- "good," probably a suffixed form of PIE root *deu- (2) "to do, perform; show favor."

The correct noun form would be bonum. Specifically as "extra dividend paid to shareholders from surplus profits" from 1808. In U.S. history the bonus army was the name given to the tens of thousands of World War I veterans and followers who marched on Washington, D.C., in 1932 demanding early redemption of their service bonus certificates (which carried a maximum value of $625).

bon-vivant (n.)

also bon vivant, "jovial companion, one fond of good living," 1690s, French (see bon); the fem. is bonne vivante.

bon voyage

1670s, French, "pleasant journey," from bon "good," (see bon) + voyage (see voyage (n.)).

boo (interj.)

early 15c., boh, "A combination of consonant and vowel especially fitted to produce a loud and startling sound" [OED, which compares Latin boare, Greek boaein "to cry aloud, roar, shout"]; as an expression of disapproval, 1884 (n.); hence, the verb meaning "shower (someone) with boos" (1885).

Booing was common late 19c. among London theater audiences and at British political events; in Italy, Parma opera-goers were notorious boo-birds. But the custom seems to have been little-known in America before c. 1910.

To say boo "open one's mouth, speak," originally was to say boo to a goose.

boobs (n.)

"breasts," 1929, U.S. slang, probably from much older term boobies (late 17c.), related to 17c. bubby; all perhaps ultimately from Latin pupa, literally "little girl," hence, in child-talk, "breast." Or else it is a natural formation in English (compare French poupe "teat," German dialectal Bubbi, etc.).

boob (n.)

"stupid person," 1909, American English slang, perhaps a shortening of booby. For the "woman's breast" sense, see boobs. Mencken seems to have coined booboisie (1922).

booby (n.)

"stupid person," 1590s, from Spanish bobo "stupid person," also used of various ungainly seabirds, probably from Latin balbus "stammering," from an imitative root (see barbarian).

The specific sense "dunce in a school class" is by 1825. Hence also booby prize "object of little value given to the loser of a game," attested by 1884:

Booby trap is by 1850, originally a schoolboy prank; the more lethal sense developed during World War I. Booby-hatch "wooden framework used to cover the after-hatch on merchant vessels" is from 1840; as "insane asylum" by 1936.

boo-boo (n.)

"mistake," 1954, apparently a reduplication of boob "stupid person," which had acquired a secondary sense of "foolish mistake" (1934). In 1930s it was the nickname of Philadelphia gangster Max "Boo-Boo" Hoff.

boob tube (n.)

"television set," U.S. slang, 1959, from boob "stupid person" + slang tube (n.) "television, television programming;" the original sets had vacuum tubes in them. It seems to have been popularized, if not coined, by William Ewald, television columnist for the UPI news wire, in a column resigning his position, which was widely reprinted in US newspapers in August, who headlined it variously.

boodle (n.)

1833, "crowd;" 1858, "phony money," especially "graft money," actual or potential (1883), both American English slang, either or both based on bundle (n.), or from Dutch boedel "property, riches," which is from Proto-Germanic *bothla, from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow."

booger (n.)

"nasal mucus," by 1890s; earlier bugger. Also boogie.

boogie (v.)

"dance to boogie music," by 1974, from boogie, a late 1960s style of rock music based on blues chords; earlier it was the name of a style of blues (1941, also as a verb), short for boogie-woogie (1928), a rhyming reduplication of the noun boogie (1917), which meant "rent party" in American English slang. A song title, "That Syncopated Boogie-boo," appears in a copyright listing from 1912. As a derogatory term for "black person" by 1923.

boo-hoo (interj.)

also boohoo, 1520s, originally of laughter or noisy weeping (now only of weeping); see boo. As a verb from 1838.

book (v.)

Middle English boken, from Old English bocian "to grant or assign by charter," from book (n.). The meaning "write down, record, enter into a book" is from c. 1200. The Old English sense is because the first books in English were records of grants or conveyances of land.

The meaning "to register a name for a seat or place; issue (railway) tickets" is from 1841; that of "to engage a performer as a guest" is from 1872. U.S. student slang meaning "to depart hastily, go fast" is by 1977, of uncertain signification. Related: Booked; booking.

book (n.)

Middle English bok, from Old English boc "book, writing, written document," generally referred (despite phonetic difficulties) to Proto-Germanic *bōk(ō)-, from *bokiz "beech" (source also of German Buch "book" Buche "beech;" see beech), the notion being of beechwood tablets on which runes were inscribed; but it may be from the tree itself (people still carve initials in them).

Latin and Sanskrit also have words for "writing" that are based on tree names ("birch" and "ash," respectively). And compare French livre "book," from Latin librum, originally "the inner bark of trees" (see library).

The sense gradually narrowed by early Middle English to "a written work covering many pages fastened together and bound," also "a literary composition" in any form, of however many volumes. Later also "bound pages," whether written on or not. In 19c. it also could mean "a magazine;" in 20c., a telephone directory.

From c. 1200 as "a main subdivision of a larger work." The meaning "libretto of an opera" is from 1768. A betting book "record of bets made" is from 1812. The meaning "sum of criminal charges" is from 1926, hence slang phrase throw the book at (1932). Book of Life "the roll of those chosen for eternal life" is from mid-14c. Book of the month is from 1926. To do something by the book "according to the rules" is from 1590s.

bookbinder (n.)

"one whose occupation is the binding of books," late 14c, from book (n.) + binder. Related: Bookbindery.

book-burning (n.)

"mass destruction by fire of published material deemed obscene, corrupting, etc.," 1850, from book (n.) + verbal noun from burn (v.). As an adjective, it is attested from 1726 (in John Toland, who was a victim of it).

bookcase (n.)

also book-case, "case with shelves for holding books," 1726, from book (n.) + case (n.2). An Old English word for this was bocfodder.

book-end (n.)

"prop for keeping books in position," 1907, from book (n.) + end (n.).

bookie (n.)

"one who accepts and pays off bets at agreed-upon odds," 1885, a colloquial shortening of bookmaker in the wagering sense.

bookish (adj.)

1560s, "given to reading, fond of books," from book (n.) + -ish. From 1590s in the sense of "overly studious, acquainted with books only." Related: Bookishly; bookishness.

bookkeeper (n.)

also book-keeper, "person who keeps accounts, one whose occupation is to make a formal balanced record of pecuniary transactions in account-books," 1550s, from book (n.) + keeper. A rare English word with three consecutive double letters. Another is bookkeeping, attested from 1680s in the sense of "the work of keeping account books;" book-keep (v.) is a back-formation from 1886.

booklet (n.)

"a small book," 1859, from book (n.) + diminutive ending -let.

bookmaker (n.)

also book-maker, 1510s, "printer and binder of books," from book (n.) + agent noun from make (v.). The wagering sense of "professional bettor, one who takes bets on horse races, etc., calculates odds, and pays out winnings" is from 1862. Related: Book-making (late 15c., betting sense 1824).

bookmark (n.)

also book-mark, "ribbon or other device placed between the pages of a book to mark a place," 1840, from book (n.) + mark (n.1). Bookmarker is older (1838). As a verb, by 1900. Related: Bookmarked; bookmarking.

book-plate (n.)

"label indicating ownership, pasted in or on a book," 1791, from book (n.) + plate (n.).

bookseller (n.)

also book-seller, "vendor of books," 1520s, from book (n.) + seller.

bookstore (n.)

also book-store, "shop where books are sold," 1763, from book (n.) + store (n.).

bookworm (n.)

1590s, "person devoted to study;" by 1713 in reference to the larvae of certain insects that eat holes in the bindings and paper of old books; see book (n.) + worm (n.). There is no single species known by this name, which is applied to the larvae of the anobium beetle (woodworm), silverfish, and booklice.

Boolean (adj.)

in reference to abstract algebraic systems, 1851, Boolian, so called for George Boole (1815-1864), English mathematician. The surname is a variant of Bull.

boom (v.)

mid-15c., bomben, bummyn, "buzz, hum, drone, make a deep, hollow, continuous sound" (earliest use was in reference to bees and wasps), probably echoic of humming. The meaning "make a loud noise, roar, rumble, reverberate" is from 15c. Compare bomb. The meaning "to burst into prosperity" (of places, businesses, etc.) is by 1871, American English. Related: Boomed; booming. Boom box "large portable stereo cassette player" is attested from 1978.

boom (n.3)

"sudden start or increase in commercial or other activity," 1873, sometimes said to be from boom (n.1) in the specific nautical meaning "a long spar run out to extend the foot of a sail" — a ship "booming" being one in full sail. But it could just as well be from boom (n.2) on the notion of "sudden burst." The verbal sense "burst into sudden activity" seems to be slightly older (1871). Boom town is from 1883. The economic cycle of boom and bust has been so called since 1937.

boom (n.1)

"long pole," 1640s, specifically, "long spar run out from a ship" (1660s), from Scottish boun, borrowed from Dutch boom "tree, pole, beam," from a Middle Dutch word analogous to German Baum, English beam (n.). As "movable bar for a microphone or camera," 1931.

boom (n.2)

"loud, deep, hollow, continued sound," c. 1500, from boom (v.). Compare boondi, an Aboriginal word for waves breaking on a beach (source of Sydney's Bondi Beach), said to be imitative of the sound.

boomerang (v.)

1880, "throw a boomerang," from boomerang (n.). The figurative sense of "fly back to the starting point" is from 1900.

boomerang (n.)

"missile weapon used by Aborigines," 1827, adapted from an extinct Aboriginal languages of New South Wales, Australia. Another variant, perhaps, was wo-mur-rang (1798).

boomlet (n.)

"small burst of activity, prosperity, etc.," 1880, from boom (n.3) + -let.

boon (n.)

late 12c., bone "a petition, a prayer," from Old Norse bon "a petition, prayer," from Proto-Germanic *boniz (source also of Old English ben "prayer, petition," bannan "to summon;" see ban (v.)). The sense gradually passed from "favor asked" to "thing asked for," to "a good thing received, a benefit enjoyed" (1767).

boon (adj.)

in boon companion "convivial friend, close intimate" (1560s), the only real survival of Middle English boon "good" (early 14c.), from Old French bon (see bon), from Latin bonus "good" (see bonus). It probably has been influenced or encouraged by boon (n.).

boondocks (n.)

"remote and wild place," 1910s, from Tagalog bundok "mountain." A word adopted by occupying American soldiers in the Philippines for "remote and wild place." It was reinforced or re-adopted during World War II. Hence, also boondockers "shoes suited for rough terrain," originally (1944) U.S. services slang word for field boots.

boondoggle (n.)

"wasteful expenditure," especially by the government under guise of public good, April 1935, American English; earlier it was a name for a kind of braided leather lanyard made by Boy Scouts and worn by them around the neck or hat. In this sense it is attested from 1930, and according to contemporary accounts the thing and the word were invented around 1928 by the Order of the Arrow of Scouts in Rochester, N.Y. The name might be arbitrary; once it became a vogue word, some newspapers claimed it had been a pioneer word for "gadget," but evidence for that is wanting.

The Prince of Wales was given one by the Rochester Scouts at the Jamboree in the summer of 1929, and wore it, and the boondoggle first came to public attention. In early April 1935, a dispute erupted in New York City over wastefulness in New Deal white-collar relief work programs, including one where men made boondoggles all day. Headline writers picked up the word, and it became at once a contemptuous noun or adjective for make-work projects for the unemployed.

boonies (n.)

colloquial shortening of boondocks "remote and wild place;" by 1964, originally among U.S. troops in Vietnam War (in reference to the rural areas of the country, as opposed to Saigon).

boor (n.)

early 14c., "country-man, peasant farmer, rustic," from Old French bovier "herdsman," from Latin bovis, genitive of bos "cow, ox." This was reinforced by or merged with native Old English gebur "dweller, farmer, peasant" (unrelated but similar in sound and sense), and 16c. by its Dutch cognate boer, from Middle Dutch gheboer "fellow dweller," from Proto-Germanic *buram "dweller," especially "farmer" (compare German Bauer), from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow."

"A word of involved history in and out of English, though the ultimate etymology is clear enough" [OED]. In English it often was applied to agricultural laborers in or from other lands, as opposed to the native yeoman; the negative transferred sense of "one who is rude in manners," attested by 1560s (in boorish), is from the city-dweller's notion of clownish rustics. Related: Boorishness.

boorish (adj.)

"uncouth, uncultured, rustic, so low-bred in habits as to be offensive," 1560s, from boor (n.) + -ish. Related: Boorishly; boorishness.

boost (v.)

"to lift or raise by pushing from behind," 1815, literal and figurative, American English, a word of unknown origin. Related: Boosted; boosting. As a noun, "a lift, a shove up, an upward push," by 1825.

booster (n.)

1885, "one who boosts" or promotes something, agent noun from boost (v.). The electrical sense is recorded from 1894. Young child's booster chair is attested under that name from 1957 (booster-seat is from 1956). Related: Boosterism (1902).

boot (v.2)

1975, transitive, "start up (a computer) by causing an operating system to load in the memory," from bootstrap (v.), a 1958 derived verb from bootstrap (n.) in the sense of "fixed sequence of instructions to load the operating system of a computer" (1953).

This is from the notion of the first-loaded program pulling itself (and the rest) up by the bootstrap. The intransitive use, of a computer operating system, is from 1983. Related: Booted; booting.

boot (n.1)

"covering for the foot and lower leg," early 14c., from Old French bote "boot" (12c.), with corresponding words in Provençal, Spanish, and Medieval Latin, all of unknown origin, perhaps from a Germanic source. Originally of riding boots only.

From c. 1600 as "fixed external step of a coach." This later was extended to "low outside compartment used for stowing luggage" (1781) and hence the transferred use in Britain in reference to the storage compartment in a motor vehicle (American English uses trunk (n.1)).

Boot-black "person who shines boots and shoes" is from 1817; boot-jack "implement to hold a boot by the heel while the foot is drawn from it" is from 1793. Boot Hill, U.S. frontier slang for "cemetery" (1893, in a Texas panhandle context) probably is an allusion to dying with one's boots on. An old Dorsetshire word for "half-boots" was skilty-boots [Halliwell, Wright].

boot (n.2)

"profit, use," Old English bot "help, relief, advantage; atonement," literally "a making better," from Proto-Germanic *boto (see better (adj.)). Compare Old Frisian bote "fine, penalty, penance, compensation," German Buße "penance, atonement," Gothic botha "advantage, usefulness, profit." Now mostly in phrase to boot (Old English to bote), indicating something thrown in by one of the parties to a bargain as an additional consideration.

boot (v.1)

"to kick, drive by kicking," 1877, American English, from boot (n.1). Earlier "to beat with a boot" (a military punishment), 1802. The generalized sense of "eject, kick (out)" is from 1880. To give (someone) the boot "dismiss, kick out" is from 1888. Related: Booted; booting.

Bootes

northern constellation containing the bright star Arcturus, late 14c., Boetes, from Latin Boötes, from Greek Boötēs, literally "cow-herd," also an adjective, "of a cow," from bous "cow, bull, ox" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"). Also see Arcturus.

boot camp (n.)

"training station for recruits," by 1941, U.S. Marines slang, said to be from boot (n.1) as slang for "recruit," which is attested by 1915 and supposedly dates from the Spanish-American War and is a synecdoche from boots "leggings worn by U.S. sailors."

booth (n.)

c. 1200, mid-12c. in place-names, "temporary structure of boards, etc.," especially a stall for the sale of goods or food or entertainment, at a fair, etc., from Old Danish boþ "temporary dwelling," from East Norse *boa "to dwell," from Proto-Germanic *bowan-, from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow." See also bower, and compare German Bude "booth, stall," Middle Dutch boode, Lithuanian butas "house," Old Irish both "hut," Bohemian bouda, Polish buda, some of which probably were borrowed from East Norse, some independently formed from the PIE root.

booty (n.)

mid-15c., bottyne "plunder taken from an enemy in war," from Old French butin "booty" (14c.), from a Germanic source akin to Middle Low German bute "exchange." It has been influenced in form and sense (toward "profit, gain," whether taken by force or not) by boot (n.2) and in form by nouns ending in -y. The meaning "female body considered as a sex object" is 1920s, African-American vernacular. As with other male sexual terms for women, its sense can shift to copulation generally or to the eroticized body parts (compare nookie, ass, etc.).

bootleg (n.)

also boot-leg, "upper part of the leg of a boot," 1630s, from boot (n.1) + leg (n.). As an adjective in reference to illegal liquor, 1889, American English slang, from the trick of concealing a flask of liquor down the leg of a high boot. Before that the bootleg was the place to secret knives and pistols. Extended to unauthorized music recordings, etc., by 1957.

bootlegging (n.)

"illegal manufacture, distribution, or sale of goods," also boot-legging, 1890, from bootleg (q.v.).

bootlegger (n.)

also boot-legger, "one who makes, distributes, or sells goods illegally," 1885, American English, originally in reference to those who sold illicit liquor in states with strict prohibition laws (Iowa, Kansas), from bootleg (q.v.). The word enjoyed great popularity in the U.S. during Prohibition (1920-1933), and the abstracted element -legger was briefly active in word-formation, e.g. meatlegger during World War II rationing, booklegger for those who imported banned titles such as "Ulysses."

bootless (adj.2)

"without advantage, unprofitable," late Old English botleas "unpardonable, not to be atoned for, without help or remedy," from boot (n.2) + -less. The meaning "useless, unprofitable" is from early 15c.

bootless (adj.1)

"lacking boots," late 14c., from boot (n.1) + -less.

boot-licker (n.)

also bootlicker, "toady, servile follower," 1846, from boot (n.1) + agent noun from lick (v.). Foot-licker in the same sense is from 1610s.

bootstrap (n.)

also boot-strap, tab or loop at the back of the top of a men's boot, which the wearer hooked a finger through to pull the boots on, 1870, from boot (n.1) + strap (n.).

To pull (oneself) up by (one's) bootstraps, by 1871, was used figuratively of an impossible task (among the "practical questions" at the end of chapter one of Steele's "Popular Physics" schoolbook (1888) is, "30. Why can not a man lift himself by pulling up on his boot-straps?"). But it also is used to suggest "better oneself by rigorous, unaided effort." The meaning "fixed sequence of instructions to load the operating system of a computer" (1953) is from the notion of the first-loaded program pulling itself (and the rest) up by the bootstrap. It was used earlier of electrical circuits (1946).

bootylicious (adj.)

by 1998, hip-hop slang, from booty + ending from delicious.

boo-ya (interj.)

also booyah, exclamation used in various situations, attested c. 1990 in hip-hop slang and to have been popularized by U.S. sports announcer Stuart Scott (1965-2015) on ESPN's SportsCenter. A 1991 magazine article has booyah as a Wisconsin word for "bouillon," based on an inability to spell the latter.

booze (v.)

"to drink heavily," 1768, earlier bouze (1610s), bouse (c. 1300); see booze (n.). Related: Boozed; boozer; boozing.

booze (n.)

"alcoholic drink," by 1570s, also bouze (in poetry rhyming with carouse), also as a verb, probably a variant of Middle English bous "intoxicating drink," (mid-14c.), which is from Middle Dutch buse "drinking vessel" (also as a verb, busen "to drink heavily"), which is related to Middle High German bus (intransitive) "to swell, inflate," which is of unknown origin.

Mostly a cant word in late 18c. The noun use and the -z- spelling (1830s) might have been popularized partly by the coincidental name of mid-19c. Philadelphia distiller E.G. Booz. Johnson's dictionary has rambooze "A drink made of wine, ale, eggs and sugar in winter time; or of wine, milk, sugar and rose-water in the summer time." In New Zealand from c. World War II, a drinking binge was a boozeroo.

boozy (adj.)

"inebriated, drunken, sottish," 1719 (earlier bousy, in canting slang, 1520s), from booze (n.) + -y (2). It was one of Benjamin Franklin's 225 synonyms for "drunk" published in 1722. Related: Boozily; booziness.