Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “seedbed” come from?

Seedbed derives from English seed and English bed, with bed from Old English bedd (resting place) and seed from Old English sēon, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰedʰ- and sekʷ-.

seedbed (English): Ground prepared for the planting of seeds; A...

Definitions

  1. Ground prepared for the planting of seeds; A...

Ancestry of “seedbed”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbedA piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on...
2Middle Englishbed—
3Old Englishbeddbed
4Proto-West Germanicbadibed
5Persianبدی—
6Persianبدbad; not good; evil; poorly, badly
7Middle Persian𐭯𐭥𐭭to; at; in
8Proto-Iranianpati-against, toward; lord
9Proto-Iranian*rādi-—
10Proto-Iranian*rād-—
11Proto-Indo-IranianHraHdʰ-—
12Proto-Indo-EuropeanHreh₁dʰ-to think; to arrange; to succeed, accomplish
13Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂reh₁-to think, reason; to arrange
14Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂er-to fit, to fix, to put together
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂er- →