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Origin and history of berth

berth(n.)

1620s, "convenient sea room" (Bailey's dictionary), for ships or for sailors, a word of uncertain origin, probably from bear (v.) + abstract noun suffix -th (2) as in strength, health, etc. The original sense is preserved in the figurative phrase give (something or someone) wide berth "keep well away from." The meaning "place on a ship to stow chests and for sailors to sleep" is from 1706; it was extended to non-nautical situations by 1778.

berth(v.)

1660s, of ships, "to assign or allot anchoring ground to," from berth (n.). Of persons, "to occupy a berth" (intransitive) from 1886. Related: Berthed; berthing.

also from 1660s

Entries linking to berth

bear(v.)

Old English beran "to carry, bring; bring forth, give birth to, produce; to endure without resistance; to support, hold up, sustain; to wear" (class IV strong verb; past tense bær, past participle boren), from Proto-Germanic *beranan (source also of Old Saxon beran, Old Frisian bera "bear, give birth," Middle Dutch beren "carry a child," Old High German beran, German gebären, Old Norse bera "carry, bring, bear, endure; give birth," Gothic bairan "to carry, bear, give birth to"), from PIE root *bher- (1) "carry a burden, bring," also "give birth" (though only English and German strongly retain this sense, and Russian has beremennaya "pregnant").

The Old English past tense bær became Middle English bare; the alternative bore began to appear c. 1400, but bare remained the literary form till after 1600. Past-participle distinction of borne for "carried" and born for "given birth" is from late 18c.

Many senses are from the notion of "move onward by pressure." To bear down "proceed forcefully toward" (especially in nautical use) is from 1716. The verb is attested from c. 1300 as "possess as an attribute or characteristic." The meaning "sustain without sinking" is from 1520s; to bear (something) in mind is from 1530s; the meaning "tend, be directed" (in a certain way) is from c. 1600. To bear up is from 1650s as "be firm, have fortitude."

-th(2)

suffix forming nouns of action, state, or quality from verbs or adjectives (such as birth, bath, depth, death, growth, strength, truth, math (n.2)), from Old English -ðu, -ð, from Proto-Germanic *-itho (cognates: Old Norse -þ, Old High German -ida, Gothic -iþa), abstract noun suffix, from PIE *-ita (cognates: Sanskrit -tati-; Greek -tet-; Latin -tati-, as in libertatem "liberty" from liber "free"). Sometimes in English reduced to -t, especially after -h- (as in height).

Formerly more widespread (Middle English had stilþe "silence," c. 1200; wrengthe "wrongness, crookedness, distortion," c. 1300), and in recent centuries often tempting to new coinages (17c. swelth "swelling;" Ruskin's illth).

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    bunk
    1758, "sleeping-berth in a vessel," later in a railway car, etc., probably a shortened form of bunker (n.) in its sense of "seat." Bunk-bed (n.) attested by 1869...."nonsense," 1900, short for bunkum, phonetic spelling of Buncombe, a county in North Carolina. The usual story (att
    slip
    early 14c., slippen, "to escape, to move softly and quickly," from an unrecorded Old English word or cognate Middle Low German slippen "to glide, slide," from Proto-Germanic *slipan (source also of Old High German slifan, Middle Dutch slippen, German schleifen "to glide, slide").
    position
    late 14c., posicioun, as a term in logic and philosophy, "statement of belief, the laying down of a proposition or thesis," from Old French posicion "position, supposition" (Modern French position) and directly from Latin positionem (nominative positio) "act or fact of placing, s
    dock
    "ship's berth, any structure in or upon which a ship may be held for loading, repairing, etc.," late 15c., dokke, from Middle...
    pull
    pulling someone's leg also sometimes was described as a way to awaken a sleeping person in a railway compartment, ship's berth...
    render
    late 14c., rendren, rendre, "repeat, say again, recite; translate," from Old French rendre "give back, present, yield" (10c.) and Medieval Latin rendere, from Vulgar Latin *rendere, a variant of Latin reddere "give back, return, restore," from red- "back" (see re-) + combining fo
    room
    Middle English roum, from Old English rum "space, extent; sufficient space, fit occasion (to do something)," from Proto-Germanic *ruman (source also of Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic rum, German Raum "space," Dutch ruim "hold of a ship, nave"), nouns formed from Ge
    moor
    "to fasten (a ship) in a particular location by or as by cables, anchors, etc.," late 15c., probably related to Old English mærels "mooring rope," via unrecorded *mærian "to moor," or possibly borrowed from Middle Low German moren or Middle Dutch maren "to moor," from West German
    fasten
    Old English fæstnian "make fast, make firm, fix, secure," also "ratify, betroth, confirm," from Proto-Germanic *fastinon "to make firm or fast" (source also of Old Frisian festnia "to make firm, bind fast," Old Saxon fastnon, Old High German fastnion, German festnen, Old Norse fa
    chair
    "a seat with a back, intended for one person," early 13c., chaere, from Old French chaiere "chair, seat, throne" (12c.; Modern French chaire "pulpit, throne;" the humbler sense having gone since 16c. with the variant form chaise), from Latin cathedra "seat" (see cathedral). The f

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