Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “dustbin” come from?

Dustbin combines English dust with bin, from Old English binne, from Gaulish benna, tracing ultimately to Proto-Indo-European roots related to container and storage concepts.

dustbin (English): A bin for holding rubbish until it can be...

Definitions

  1. A bin for holding rubbish until it can be...

Ancestry of “dustbin”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdustFine particles; The act of cleaning by dusting;...
2Germandust—
3Middle Low Germandust—
4Old Frenchjostejoust
5LatinjuxtaAlternative form of iū̆xtā; near to, nigh
6Latiniuxtanearly; near, close to; just as
7Proto-Italicjougestād—
8Proto-Italicjougestos—
9Proto-Italicjougosyoked animals, team
10Proto-Indo-Europeanyéwgosteam, pair of yoked animals
11Proto-Indo-Europeanyewg-to join, to yoke, to tie together
Every word from Proto-Indo-European yewg- →