Etymograph

English

bare

Bare comes from Middle English bare ‘unclothed’, from Old English bær ‘bare, naked, open’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰosós1‘bare, barefoot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bazaz1‘bare, naked’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baʀ1‘bare, naked’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bær1‘bare, naked, open’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bare1‘unclothed’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591bare1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bare
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “for it appears, by their bare liveries, that they…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰosósWiktionary, English bare‘bare, barefoot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bazazWiktionary, English bare‘bare, naked’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baʀWiktionary, English bare‘bare, naked’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bærWiktionary, English bare‘bare, naked, open’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bareWiktionary, English bare‘unclothed’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591bareWiktionary, English bare. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “for it appears, by their bare liveries, that they…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *bazaz ‘bare, naked’

barren, 1 more

Another origin of bare

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰosós‘bare, naked’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bazaz‘bare, naked’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bazōną‘to bare, make bare’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150barian‘to lay bare’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500baren
  6. Englishtodaybare

Today it means

adj Minimal; that is or are just sufficient.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bare”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós / bare

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