English
bauble
Bauble comes from Old French babel ‘trinket, child's toy’, from Latin bellus ‘pretty’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to fit’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewh₂-1‘to fit’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenos1‘good’uncertain
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenos1uncertain
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCE*duenelos1uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellus2‘pretty’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400babel2‘trinket, child's toy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bable2
- Englishearliest quotation 1816bauble2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin bellus
- 2 Wiktionary, English bauble
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, – 1817 April/May, The Modern Prometheus. […]: “[…] as to the bauble on which the chief…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dewh₂-Wiktionary, Latin bellus‘to fit’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenosWiktionary, Latin bellus‘good’uncertain
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenosWiktionary, Latin bellusuncertain
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCE*duenelosWiktionary, Latin bellusuncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellusWiktionary, English bauble‘pretty’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400babelWiktionary, English bauble‘trinket, child's toy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bableWiktionary, English bauble
- Englishearliest quotation 1816baubleWiktionary, English bauble. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, – 1817 April/May, The Modern Prometheus. […]: “[…] as to the bauble on which the chief…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to fit’
down, town, tool, teen, dynamic, dynasty, tow, dun, dynamo, dynastic, tine, benefice, taw, 91 more
through Proto-Italic *dwenos ‘good’
ben, bonus, beneficial, optimal, rebellion, bonnie, optimism, boon, beneficiary, rebellious, bene, bonny, rebelling, bonbon, 35 more
through Old Latin duenos
through Old Latin *duenelos
rebel, revel, bellicose, beaucoup, beauteous, 17 more
through Latin bellus ‘pretty’
Today it means
noun A cheap showy ornament or piece of jewellery; a gewgaw.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “bauble”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin bellus. 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 *dewh₂- / bauble