Where does “soybean” come from?
Soybean derives from English bean, from Dutch soja, from Arabic بَان, from Proto-Germanic baunō, from Proto-Indo-European bʰew-.
soybean (English): A legume plant (Glycine max), commonly cultivated for human and animal consumption and as a nitrogen-fixing ground cover
Definitions
- A legume plant (Glycine max), commonly cultivated for human and animal consumption and as a nitrogen-fixing ground cover
Ancestry of “soybean”, step by step
soybean traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English soy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | soy | A common East Asian liquid sauce, made by... |
| 2 | French | soie | silk; bristle; tang |
| 3 | Middle French | soye | silk |
| 4 | Old French | soie | silk |
| 5 | Old French | seie | silk |
| 6 | Latin | sēta | — |
| 7 | Latin | saeta | a bristle, hair on an animal; silk |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | saitā | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | séh₂ito- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | sh₂ey- | to bind, fetter |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | seh₂- | to satiate, satisfy |
via English bean
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bean | Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic... |
| 2 | Middle English | bene | gracious, generous, pleasant; neighbourly help,... |
| 3 | Old English | bēn | prayer, request; prayer, request, petition,... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | banjō | wound |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷʰon-yeh₂ | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷʰen- | to strike, slay, kill |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰon- | — |