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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers with Unicode® support and fonts spanning the Unicode 3 character set relevant to Indo-European languages. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 2 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: bheid-   'to bite, prick, pierce, split'

Semantic Fields: to Bite; Sharp; to Split

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
Celtic  
Irish: bad n boat CDC
Gaelic: bata n boat CDC
Welsh: bad n boat CDC
English  
Old English: bǣtan vb to bait W7
  bǣting/bēting n bitt, rope, cable CDC
  bāt n.fem bait CDC/OED
  bāt n.masc boat W7
  bita n.masc bit, bite, piece, morsel W7/ASD
  bītan vb.str.I to bite GED
  bīte n.masc bite, pain, disease W7/ASD
  bītel(a)/bētl n.masc beetle CDC/ASD
  bit(t)er adj bitter W7/ASD
  bit(t)or adj bitter GED/ASD
  bitula n beetle W7
  (ge)bǣtan vb.wk to bit, bridle CDC/ASD
  ge-bǣte(l) n.neut thing bitten CDC/ASD
Northumbrian: bīta vb to bite, dismember, pluck to pieces ASD
Middle English: abetten vb to abet W7
  bait/bayte/beite/beyte n bait CDC
  betylle/bytylle n beetle W7/CDC
  bit n bit: morsel W7
  bite/byt(e) n bit, bite, piece, morsel CDC
  biten vb to bite W7
  bitle/bityl n beetle CDC
  bitt n bit: bridle W7
  bitte/bytt(e) n bit: blade, thing bitten MEV/CDC
  bit(t)er/bittir/bytter adj bitter W7/CDC/MEV
  boot/bot(e) n boat W7/CDC
  fente/vente n vent W7
English: abet vb.trans to instigate, encourage AHD/W7
  bait n food used to entice prey AHD/OED
  bateau n small craft AHD/W7
  beetle n insect with 2 pairs of wings AHD/W7
  bit n morsel, small amount of food AHD/W7
  bit n thing (e.g. bridle) bitten/held with teeth AHD/W7
  bit n blade, cutting edge MEV
  bit vb to curb, put bit in mouth W7
  bite, bit, bitten vb.str to seize with jaws/teeth/analogous organ AHD/W7
  bite n act/manner of biting W7
  bitt n post on ship to secure lines AHD/W7
  bitter adj acrid/astringent/disagreeable in taste AHD/W7
  boat n small vessel propelled by oars/paddles/sail AHD/W7
  -fid adj divided into parts AHD/W7
  fissile adj divisible AHD/W7
  fission n breaking/splitting into parts AHD/W7
  fissure n narrow crack/opening (indicating split) AHD/W7
  vent n slit in garment AHD/W7
W-Germanic  
Old Frisian: bīta vb.str.I to bite GED
  bita n bit: morsel CDC
  biti/bit(e) n bit: thing bitten CDC
Middle Dutch: bete n bit: thing bitten CDC
  boot n boat CDC
Dutch: beet n bit CDC
  beetje n bit: morsel, small portion CDC
  beting n bitt CDC
  bijten vb to bite CDC
  bitter adj bitter ASD
  boot n.fem boat ASD
Old Saxon: bītan vb.str.I to bite GED
  biti n bit: thing bitten CDC
  bittar adj bitter GED
Middle Low German: bet(e) n bit: morsel CDC
  bīten vb to bite CDC
  bit(te) n thing bitten CDC
  bōt n boat CDC
Low German: bet/bit n bit: thing bitten CDC
  beten n bit: morsel CDC
  biten vb to bite CDC
  boot n boat CDC
Old High German: bītan vb.str.I to bite GED
  bittar adj bitter GED
  bittirī n.wk.fem bitterness GED
  biz n bit: thing bitten CDC
  bīzan vb to bite W7
  bizzo n bit: morsel CDC
Middle High German: beiz n.neut hunting CDC/OED
  beize n.fem bait CDC/OED
  bitter adj bitter ASD
  biz n bit: thing bitten CDC
  bīzen vb to bite CDC
  bizze n bit: morsel CDC
German: Bäting n bitt CDC
  beissen vb to bite CDC
  Biss n.masc bite, sting CDC
  Bissen n.masc bit: morsel CDC
  bitter adj bitter ASD
  Boot n.neut boat LRC
  Gebiss n.neut bit: thing bitten CDC
N-Germanic  
Old Norse: beit n boat W7
  beit n.neut pasturage W7
  beita n.fem bait W7
  biti n beam W7
  bitill/bitull n beetle KNW
  bíta vb to bite, cut LRC
Old Icelandic: beiskr adj bitter, evil GED
  bitr adj bitter GED
  bīta vb.str.I to bite GED
Icelandic: bātr n.masc boat CDC/ASD
  beit n boat CDC
  beita n.fem bait CDC
  bit n bit: thing bitten CDC
  biti n bit: morsel CDC
  bitr adj bitter CDC
  bīta vb to bite CDC
Danish: baad n boat CDC
  bed n bit: thing bitten CDC
  bede n bait, pasture CDC
  beding n bitt(s) CDC
  bid n bit: morsel CDC
  bide vb to bite CDC
  bille n beetle TLL
  bitter adj bitter ASD
Swedish: beta n bait, pasture CDC
  beting n bitt(s) CDC
  bett n.neut bit: thing bitten CDC
  bit n bit: morsel CDC
  bita vb to bite CDC
  bitter adj bitter ASD
  båt n.masc boat CDC/ASD
E-Germanic  
Gothic: baitraba adv bitterly GED
  *baitrs adj bitter GED
  *beitan vb.str.I to bite GED
Italic  
Latin: -fidus adj.sfx divided W7
  findo, findere, fīdī, fissus vb to split W7
  fissio, fissionis n.fem act of splitting W7
Middle Latin: bat(t)us n boat CDC
Portuguese: abitas n.pl bitt CDC
  fender vb to split TLL
Spanish: batel n.dim boat CDC
  bitas n.pl bitt CDC
  hender vb to split TLL
Old French: bat n boat CDC
  batel n.masc.dim small boat W7
Middle French: abeter vb to bait W7
  fendre vb to split W7
  fente n.fem vent, fissure W7
French: bateau n.masc boat W7
  bit(t)es n.pl bitt CDC
  fendre vb to split TLL
Canadian French: bateau n.masc boat W7
Provençal: batelh n.dim small boat CDC
Italian: battello n.dim small boat CDC
  batto n boat CDC
  bitte n.pl bitt CDC
  fendere vb to split TLL
Hellenic  
Greek: φείδομαι vb to spare, separate oneself from GED
Indic  
Sanskrit: bhid vb to bite ASD
  bhinádmi vb.aor split GED

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
I=class 1
adj=adjective
adv=adverb(ial)
aor=aorist (tense)
dim=diminutive
fem=feminine (gender)
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
neut=neuter (gender)
pl=plural (number)
sfx=suffix
str=strong (inflection)
trans=transitive
vb=verb
wk=weak (inflection)

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code Citation
AHD=Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD=Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC=W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
GED=Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
KNW=Gerhard Köbler: Altnordisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
MEV=J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
OED=James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933)
TLL=Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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