Where does “barmaid” come from?
Barmaid comes from English bar and English maiden, ultimately tracing through Frankish bara to Proto-Indo-European bʰerH-, and to Proto-Indo-European maghu-.
barmaid (English): A woman who serves in a bar
Definitions
- A woman who serves in a bar
Ancestry of “barmaid”, step by step
barmaid traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English maid
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | maid | A girl or an unmarried young woman; maiden; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | mayde | young woman |
| 3 | English | maiden | A girl or an unmarried young woman; A female... |
| 4 | Middle English | mayden | maiden |
| 5 | Old English | mægden | girl; virgin, young unmarried woman |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | magadīn | little girl |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | -īn | Creates adjectives from nouns with the sense... |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |
via English Bar
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Bar | A solid, more or less rigid object of metal or wood with a uniform cross-section smaller than its length |
| 2 | German | bär | — |
| 3 | Middle High German | bër | bear |
| 4 | Old High German | beri | A berry |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | baʀi | berry |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | bazją | berry |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂- | to shine, glow light; to speak, say |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂-s-ri- | — |