Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “baloney” come from?

Baloney derives from Bologna, the Italian city name from Latin Bononia, originally referring to sausage made in that region.

baloney (English): A type of sausage; bologna; Nonsense

Definitions

  1. A type of sausage; bologna; Nonsense

Ancestry of “baloney”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishBologna—
2ItalianBologna—
3LatinBonōnia—
4EnglishunnamedNot having a name
5EnglishUn-—
6Middle Englishun-—
7Old Englishun-negation or absence of: un-, non-; bad; forms...
8Proto-West Germanicun-not, un-
9Proto-Germanicun-not, un-
10Proto-Indo-Europeann̥-not, un-
11Proto-Indo-Europeannenot

Words derived from “baloney”

  • boloney
  • balonium
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ne →