Where does “bay tree” come from?

bay tree (English) comes from English Bay, from French baie, from French bai, from Old French bai, from Latin badius, from Proto-Indo-European bodyos — yellow.

bay tree (English): A laurel tree

Definitions

  1. A laurel tree

Ancestry of “bay tree”, step by step

bay tree traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Bay

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishBayA body of water (especially the sea) contained by a concave shoreline
2Frenchbaieberry; bay; feminine singular of bai
3Frenchbaibay
4Old Frenchbaibay-colored
5Latinbadiusreddish brown, chestnut colored, bay
6Proto-Indo-Europeanbodyosyellow

via English tree

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtreeA perennial woody plant, not exactly defined, but...
2Middle EnglishtreA tree or a plant that resembles one
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bodyos →Every word from Latin badius →Every word from Old French bai →