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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.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

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: bheu-, bheu̯ə-, bhu̯ā-, bhu̯ē- : bhō̆u- : bhū- 'to be, exist; grow, prosper'

Semantic Fields: to Grow; Strong, Mighty, Powerful

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Old Irish:	both	n.fem	hut, bothy	GED/AHD
	bōi	vb.1.sg.pret	was	GED
Irish:	bo(i)th	n	booth	CDC
Gaelic:	buth	n	booth	CDC
Welsh:	bod	n	hut	GED
	bum	vb.pret.1.sg	was	TLL
English
Old English:	bēam	n.str.masc	tree, beam	GED
	bēo, bist, biþ	vb.anom.sg	am, are, is	TLL
	bēon/biōn	vb.anom	to be	W7/ASD
	bēor	n.str.neut	beer	GED
	bēoþ	vb.anom.pl	are	TLL
	bēow	n	barley	GED
	bōgian	vb.wk	to dwell, inhabit, settle (at)	GED/RPN
	bold	n.neut	house, dwelling, building	AHD/ASD
	botl	n.neut	hall, house, abode, dwelling	IEW/ASD
	bū/bȳ	n	home, dwelling	GED/RPN/ASD
	bū(g)an, būde, bȳne	vb.irr	to live, dwell, inhabit	ASD
	būr	n.neut	bower, shelter	ASD
	būw(i)an	vb	to dwell, cultivate	GED
	byldan	vb	to build	W7
	bȳre	n	byre	W7
	cwic-bēam	n.masc	quick-beam, lit. quick-tree (type of poplar?)	ASD
	gebūr	n.masc	dweller	W7/ASD
	hūsbonda/hūsbunda	n.masc	husband, master of house	W7/ASD
	impe	n.fem	imp, scion	ASD
	impian	vb	to imp	W7
	nēahgebūr	n.masc	neighbor, lit. near-dweller	W7/ASD
Middle English:	be(e)/beo	vb.anom.1.sg	am	CDC
	beem/beme	n	beam	W7/CDC
	be(e)n/beon	vb.anom	to be	MEV/W7/CDC
	be(e)st/beost/bist	vb.anom.2.sg	are	CDC
	be(o)th	vb.anom.3.sg	is	CDC
	bilawe	n	bylaw	W7
	bilden	vb	to build	W7
	bilt	n	dwelling	MEV
	bothe	n	booth	W7
	boun(e)/bowne	adj	bound, prompt	W7/MEV
	*bour	n	boor, dweller	CDC
	bour(e)/bower	n	bower, abode	W7/MEV
	byre/bere	n	byre	W7/MEV
	future	n	future	W7
	husbonde	n	husband	W7
	impen	vb	to imp	W7
	neighbor	n	neighbor	W7
	phisik	n	medical/natural science	W7
	phisiken	vb	to administer medical treatment	W7
English:	apophysis	n	expanded/projecting part of organism	AHD/W7
	be, been	vb.anom	to exist, have same connotation as	AHD/W7
	beam	n	long piece of heavy timber used in construction	AHD/W7
	Boer	prop.n	white South African of Dutch descent; rebel in Boer War	LRC
	bondage	n	villein tenure/service	AHD/W7
	boodle	n	group of people	AHD/W7
	boom	n	spar used to extend foot of sail/facilitate mooring/handling of cargo	AHD/W7
	boor	n	peasant	AHD/W7
	booth	n	temporary shelter for livestock/field workers	AHD/W7
	bothy	n	booth, basic shelter	AHD
	bound	adj	ready	AHD/W7
	bower	n	attractive dwelling/retreat	AHD/W7
	build, built	vb.wk	to construct, form by joining materials into composite whole	AHD/W7
	bumpkin	n	awkward, unsophisticated rustic	AHD/W7
	bumpkin	n	projecting boom of ship	AHD/W7
	bustle	n	noisy excited activity	AHD
	bustle	vb	to (cause to) move busily/energetically	AHD
	Butterbur(r)	prop.n	Bree surname in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	bylaw	n	rule adopted by organization for government and regulation of affairs	AHD/W7
	byre	n	cow barn	AHD/W7
	diaphysis	n	shaft of long bone	AHD/W7
	diphyodont	adj	having 2 sets of teeth	AHD/CDC
	epiphysis	n	separately ossifying bone part later ankylosed to main part	AHD/W7
	fiat	n	command that creates	AHD/W7
	forebear	n	forefather, ancestor	AHD/W7
	future	adj	(that) which is to be	AHD/W7
	Grimbold	prop.n	Rohan marshal in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Hardbottle	prop.n	Shire village in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	husband	n	married man	AHD/W7
	hypophysis	n	pituitary body	AHD/W7
	imp	n	bud, shoot, graft	W7
	imp	vb.trans	to graft/repair (with feather)	AHD/W7
	metaphysics	n	philosophy of ontology/cosmology/epistemology	W7
	Monophysite	prop.n	member of certain early Christian heretical sect	LRC
	neighbor	n	one living/located near another	AHD/W7
	neophyte	n	proselyte, new convert	AHD/W7
	phyle	n	largest (ancient Athenian) political subdivision	AHD/W7
	phyletic	adj	phylogenetic	AHD
	phylogenetic	adj	re: phylogeny	AHD
	phylogeny	n	evolution of genetically related organisms	AHD/W7
	phylum	n	line of descent within group	AHD/W7
	physic	vb.trans	to treat with/administer medicine to	AHD/W7
	physics	n	art/practice of healing disease	AHD/W7
	physi(o)-	pfx	nature	AHD/W7
	physique	n	bodily makeup, referring to strength/structure/appearance/constitution	AHD/W7
	-phyte	n.pfx	plant having (certain) habitat/characteristic	AHD/W7
	phyt(o)-	pfx	plant	AHD
	phyton	n	plant leaf with stem	AHD/W7
	Quickbeam	prop.n	Ent a.k.a. Bregalad in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	symphysis	n	somewhat movable bone articulation in body's median plane	AHD/W7
	tracheophyte	n	vascular plant having conducting system of phloem/xylem	AHD/W7
American English:	caboodle	n	boodle	CDC
British English:	quick-beam	n.dial	mountain-ash	OED
Scots English:	bear	n	one who exists	W7
	been	vb.anom	to be	W7
	bothy	n	bunkhouse, small cottage	LRC
	buith	n	booth	CDC
	forebear	n	ancestor	W7
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	bām	n.str.masc	tree	GED
	bem	vb.anom.1.sg	am	CDC
	bōgia	vb.wk	to dwell, inhabit	GED
	bouwje	vb	to dwell, inhabit	ASD
	bowa/buwa	vb	to dwell, cultivate	GED
Frisian:	boer	n.masc	boor, farmer, dweller	ASD
North Frisian:	baem/beamme/bjemme	n	tree	ASD
Middle Dutch:	beboer	n	rustic, farmer, husbandman	CDC
	bōdel	n	riches, property; boodle	AHD
	bomme	n	cask	W7
	bommekijn	n	little barrel	W7
	ghebure/ghebuer	n	neighbor	CDC
Dutch:	ben	vb.anom.1.sg	(I) am	TLL
	bent	vb.anom.2.sg	(you) are	TLL
	boedel	n	lot, estate	W7
	Boer	prop.n	Boer	W7
	boer	n.masc	boor, farmer, dweller	W7/ASD
	boerderij	n	farm	TLL
	boom	n.masc	tree; bar, pole, beam, boom	W7/ASD
	bouw	n.masc	bower, dwelling	ASD
	bouwen	vb	to dwell	RPN
	buur	n	neighbor	CDC
	gebouw	n	building	TLL
Flemish:	boom	n	tree	W7
	boomken	n	shrub	W7
Old Saxon:	bist	vb.anom.2.sg	are	CDC
	bium	vb.anom.1.sg	am	CDC
	bōm	n.str.masc	tree	GED
	bū	n.neut	home, property	GED/ASD
	būan	vb	to dwell, cultivate	GED/RPN
Middle Low German:	bōde	n.str.fem	booth, hut, tent, abode	GED
	bōm	n	tree	CDC
	(ge)būr	n	boor, husbandman	CDC
Low German:	boom	n	tree; bar, pole, beam, boom	CDC
	buur/būr	n.masc	boor, farmer; neighbor, citizen	ASD/CDC
Old High German:	bim/pim	vb.anom.1.sg	am	W7/CDC
	bior	n.str.neut	beer	GED
	boum/poum	n.str.masc	tree	GED/ASD
	bū	n.str.neut	home, dwelling, cultivation	GED
	būr	n.str.masc	cage, building	GED
	bū(w)an/būen	vb	to dwell, cultivate	GED/RPN
	gibūr(o)	n	boor, rustic, husbandman	CDC
	impfōn	vb	to imp, graft	W7
	nāhgibūr	n	neighbor	W7
	pis(t)	vb.anom.2.sg	are	CDC
	pū	n.masc	dwelling	ASD
Middle High German:	bin	vb.anom.1.sg	am	ASD
	bist	vb.anom.2.sg	are	CDC
	boum	n.masc	tree	ASD
	bouwen/b(i)uwen	vb	to dwell, inhabit	ASD
	bū/bou	n.masc	dwelling	ASD
	būde/buode	n.str.fem	booth, hut, tent, abode	GED
	gebūr(e)	n	boor, rustic, husbandman	CDC
German:	Bau	n.masc	building	ASD
	bauen	vb	to build; dwell, inhabit	ASD
	Bauer	n.masc	boor, farmer	ASD
	Bauer	n.masc/neut	cage, bower, aviary	GED/ASD
	Bauernhof	n	farm	TLL
	Baum	n.masc	tree	ASD
	bin	vb.anom.1.sg	am	ASD
	bist	vb.anom.2.sg	are	TLL
	Bude	n.fem	booth, hut, shack	LRC
	Bure	prop.n.masc	Boer	LRC
	Gebäude	n	building	TLL
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	bōndi	n	yeoman, franklin, husband	W7
	búa, búinn	vb	to live, prepare, be ready; settle	LRC
	būþ	n	booth	W7
	byggja, bygð	vb	to build; dwell, inhabit	LRC
	bȳlög	n	bylaw, rule adopted by town	W7
	bȳr	n	town	W7
	hūsbōndi	n	husband, householder	W7
Old Icelandic:	baðmr	n.str.masc	tree	GED
	ból	n	lair	RPN
	bōl	n.neut	dwelling, animal lair	GED
	bū	n	dwelling, household; farming	GED/RPN
	būa	vb	to dwell, prepare	GED
	būð	n.str.fem	booth, hut, tent, abode	GED
	būr	n.str.neut	chamber, building for stores	GED
	bygg	n	barley	GED
	byggva	vb	to inhabit	GED
	bȳr/bœr	n.str.masc	house, farm	GED
	bǫrr	n.str.masc	tree	GED
Icelandic:	baðmr	n.masc	tree	ASD
	bū	n.neut	dwelling	ASD
	būa/bōa	vb	to dwell, inhabit	ASD/CDC
	būð	n	booth, dwelling	CDC
	būr	n.neut	bower	ASD
Norwegian:	bomm/bumm/bumb	n	boom, bar	CDC
Old Danish:	bōþ	n	booth, stall, dwelling	AHD
Danish:	bo	n.masc/fem	dwelling	ASD
	bod	n	booth, stall	CDC
	bo(e)	vb	to dwell	GED/ASD
	bom	n	boom, beam, bar, rail, perch	CDC
	bonde	n	farmer	LRC
	buur	n.neut	bower	ASD
	by	n	town	TLL
	bygning	n	building	TLL
Old Swedish:	bagn	n.str.masc	tree	GED
	bo	vb	to dwell	GED
	bōþ	n.str.fem	booth, hut, tent, abode	GED
Swedish:	bo	n.masc	dwelling	ASD
	bo	vb	to dwell, inhabit	ASD
	bod	n	booth, stall	CDC
	bom	n	boom, beam, bar, rail, perch	CDC
	bonde	n	farmer	TLL
	bur	n.masc	bower	ASD
	by	n	village	TLL
	byggnad	n	building	TLL
E-Germanic
Gothic:	bagms	n.masc	tree	GED/ASD
	bauan	vb.str.VII	to live, dwell, inhabit	GED/RPN
Italic
Latin:	fiat	vb.subj	let it be	W7
	fio, fieri	vb.defc	to become, be made	LRC
	fuī, fuisti, fuit	vb.pret.sg	was, were	W7
	futurus	vb.ptc	about to be	W7
	physica	n.neut.pl	physics, natural science	W7
	physicus	adj	of nature	W7
	superbus, superba, superbum	adj	haughty	LRC
Late Latin:	neophytus	n.masc	beginner	W7
Medieval Latin:	Monophysita	n.fem	Monophysite	W7
New Latin:	apophysis	n.fem	bringing forth	W7
	byre	n.fem	a cow barn	W7
	diaphysis	n.fem	the shaft of a long bone	W7
	epiphysis	n.fem	separated ossification of a bone	W7
	hypophysis	n.fem	pituitary body	W7
	phylum	n.neut	a direct line of descent withing a group	W7
	phyton	n.neut	a structural unit of a plant	W7
	symphysis	n.fem	state of growing together	W7
	Tracheophyta	n.fem	genus name	W7
Spanish:	fuí, fuiste, fué	vb.pret.sg	was, were	TLL
Old French:	fisique	n.fem	medicine	W7
	futur	adj	about to be	W7
French:	fus, fut	vb.pret.sg	was, were	TLL
	physique	adj	physical, bodily	W7
Italian:	fui, fosti, fu	vb.pret.sg	was, were	TLL
Baltic
Old Prussian:	buttan	n	house	GED
	buwinanti	vb.2.pl.imp	dwell!	GED
Old Lithuanian:	bu	vb.pret	was	GED
Lithuanian:	bùtas	n	house	GED
	bū́ti, yrà, bùvo	vb	to be	LRC
	bū́ti	vb	to be	GED
	bū̃vis	n	life, existence	GED
Latvian:	būt, esmu, biju	vb	to be	LRC
Slavic
Polish:	buda	n	booth	CDC
Czech:	bouda	n	booth	CDC
	byt	n	home	GED
Sorbian:	buda	n	booth	CDC
Old Church Slavonic:	by	vb.pret	was	GED
	byvati, byvajǫ, byvaješi	vb	to be	LRC
	byti, bǫdǫ, bǫdeši	vb	to be, become	LRC
	prěbyti, prěbǫdǫ, prěbǫdeši	vb	to abide, remain	LRC
Russian:	budka	n	booth	CDC
Albanian
Albanian:	buj	vb	to spend the night	RPN
Hellenic
Greek:	apophuein	vb	to send out branches	AHD
	apophusis	n	branch, apophysis	AHD
	diaphyesthai	vb	to grow between	W7
	diaphysis	n.fem	spinous process of the tibia	W7
	epiphyesthai	vb	to grow on	W7
	epiphysis	n.fem	growth	W7
	ἔφῡ	vb.aor	was	GED
	neophytos	adj	newly planted, newly converted	W7
	symphyesthai	vb	to grow together	W7
	symphysis	n.fem	state of growing together	W7
	hypophyein	vb	to grow beneath	W7
	hypophysis	n.fem	attachment underneath	W7
	phyesthai	vb	to grow	W7
	φύη	n.fem	stature	LRC
	phylē	n.fem	tribe	W7
	phylon	n.neut	tribe, race	W7
	φῦμα	n	growth	GED
	phynai	vb	to be born, be by nature	W7
	φύομαι	vb	to become	GED
	physika	n.neut.pl	physical things, natural things	W7
	physikē	n.fem	study of nature	W7
	physikos	adj	of nature	W7
	physis	n.fem	growth, nature	W7
	phyton	n.neut	plant	W7
	φύω	vb	to grow, become, bring forth	LRC
	φωλεός	n	cave inhabited by wild animals	GED
Medieval Greek:	Monophysitēs	adj	Monophysite	W7
Iranian
Avestan:	bavaiti	vb	to be, become	GED
Indic
Sanskrit:	ábhūt	vb.aor	was	GED
	bahúṣ	n	arm	GED
	bhávati	vb	to be, exist, become	GED/RPN
	bhú	n.fem	earth, site, place	ASD
	bhú	vb	to be, become, spring up	ASD
	bhū́ma	n	earth, being	GED

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

Abbrev.		Meaning
1	=	1st person
2	=	2nd person
3	=	3rd person
VII	=	class 7
adj	=	adjective
anom	=	anomalous/indeclinable
aor	=	aorist (tense)
defc	=	defective
dial	=	dialectal
fem	=	feminine (gender)
imp	=	imperative (mood)
irr	=	irregular
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
pfx	=	prefix
pl	=	plural (number)
pret	=	preterite (tense)
prop	=	proper
ptc	=	participle
sg	=	singular (number)
str	=	strong (inflection)
subj	=	subjunctive (mood)
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)
IEW	=	Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
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)
RPN	=	Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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