Where does “bad” come from?

bad (Welsh) comes from Old English bāt, from Proto-West Germanic bait, from Proto-Germanic baitaz, from Proto-Indo-European bʰeyd-, from Proto-Indo-European bʰey- — bee.

bad (Welsh): boat; plague, pestilence

Definitions

  1. boat; plague, pestilence

Ancestry of “bad”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishbātthat which can be bitten, food, bait; boat, ship,...
2Proto-West Germanicbaitboat, ship
3Proto-Germanicbaitazboat, ship
4Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰeyd-to split
5Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰey-bee

Words derived from “bad”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰey- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰeyd- →Every word from Proto-Germanic baitaz →