Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “bite” come from?

Bite comes from Middle English biten, from Old English betēon, from Proto-Germanic bītaną, from Proto-Indo-European bʰeyd-, ultimately derived from the root bʰī-.

bite (English): To cut into something by clamping the teeth; To...

Definitions

  1. To cut into something by clamping the teeth; To...

Ancestry of “bite”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbitento bite
2Old Englishbetēonto cover, surround, enclose; to cover, surround,...
3Old Englishtēonto drag, draw, pull; to train, discipline; to...
4Old Englishtēohan—
5Proto-West Germanicteuhanto pull; to lead
6Proto-Germanicteuhanąto lead; to pull behind oneself, draw, drag
7Proto-Indo-Europeandewk-to pull, to draw; to lead

Words derived from “bite”

  • byte
  • nibble
  • nibbling
  • frostbite
  • biter
  • bytecode
  • snakebite
  • gigabyte
  • megabyte
  • overbite
  • terabyte
  • kilobyte
  • biteth
  • bitemark
  • bitewing
  • crossbite
  • multibyte
  • petabyte
  • nibbler
  • underbite
  • fleabite
  • exabyte
  • midbite
  • bitey
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dewk- →