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Origin and history of baa

baa

imitative of the cry or bleat of a sheep, attested from 1580s as a noun and verb, but probably older, as baa is recorded before this as a name for a child's toy sheep. Compare Latin bee "sound made by a sheep" (Varro), balare "to bleat;" Greek blēkhē "a bleating;" Catalan be "a sheep." Related: Baaed; baaing.

also from 1580s

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More to explore

table
Middle English, from Old French table, tabel "board, square panel, plank; writing table; picture; food, fare" (11c.), and also a survival of late Old English tabele "flat and relatively thin surface of some hard material," especially "writing tablet (of slabs of wood, etc.,), gam
cry
mid-13c., "yell (something) out, utter" (transitive); c. 1300, "beg, implore; speak earnestly and loudly; advertise by calling out," from Old French crier, from Vulgar Latin *critare, from Latin quiritare "to wail, shriek" (source of Italian gridare, Old Spanish cridar, Spanish a
item
late 14c., originally an adverb, "moreover, in addition," from Latin item (adv.) "likewise, just so, moreover," probably from ita "thus," id "it" (see id) + adverbial ending -tem (compare idem "the same"). The Latin adverb was used to introduce a new fact or statement, and in Fre
time
Old English tima "limited space of time," from Proto-Germanic *timon- "time" (source also of Old Norse timi "time, proper time," Swedish timme "an hour"), from PIE *di-mon-, suffixed form of root *da- "to divide." The abstract sense of "time as an indefinite continuous duration"
mite
"tiny animal, minute arachnid," Old English mite "minute, parasitic insect or arachnid," from Proto-Germanic *miton (source also of Middle Dutch mite, Dutch mijt, Old High German miza, Danish mide) meaning originally perhaps "the cutter," in reference to its bite, from Proto-Germ
utter
Old English utera, uterra, "outer, exterior, external," from Proto-Germanic *utizon (source also of Old Norse utar, Old Frisian uttra, Middle Dutch utere, Dutch uiter-, Old High German uzar, German äußer "outer"), comparative adjective from ut (see out (adv.)). Meaning "complete,
bee
stinging insect of the genus Apis, living in societies under a queen and producing wax and honey, Old English beo "bee," from Proto-Germanic *bion (source also of Old Norse by, Old High German bia, Middle Dutch bie), from PIE root *bhei- "bee." Used metaphorically for "busy worke
inspiration
c. 1300, "immediate influence of God or a god," especially that under which the holy books were written, from Old French inspiracion "inhaling, breathing in; inspiration" (13c.), from Late Latin inspirationem (nominative inspiratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of La
fresh
c. 1200, fresh, also fersh, "unsalted; pure; sweet; eager;" the modern form is a metathesis of Old English fersc, of water, "not salt, unsalted," itself transposed from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (source also of Old Frisian fersk, Middle Dutch versch, Dutch vers, Old High German fri
promise
c. 1400, promisse, "a solemn pledge; a vow; a declaration in reference to the future made by one person to another, assuring the latter that the former will do, or not do, a specified act," from Old French promesse "promise, guarantee, assurance" (13c.) and directly from Latin pr

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Dictionary entries near baa
  • B.C.
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  • B.Sc.
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  • baa
  • Baal
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  • babble
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