Where does “Bay” come from?

Bay comes from French baie, from Latin badius, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European badyo-, h₁epi, ki-, and key-.

Bay (English): A body of water (especially the sea) contained by a concave shoreline

Definitions

  1. A body of water (especially the sea) contained by a concave shoreline

Ancestry of “Bay”, step by step

Bay traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via French baie

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchbaieberry; bay; feminine singular of bai
2Frenchbaibay
3Old Frenchbaibay-colored
4Latinbadiusreddish brown, chestnut colored, bay
5Proto-Indo-Europeanbodyosyellow

via Old French beee

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchbeeeopening
2Old Frenchbeerto open; to pant; to breathe heavily; to desire;...
3Late Latinbatāre—

via Middle English baye

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbaye—
2Old Englishbeġberry

Words derived from “Bay”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European bodyos →