Etymograph

English

bebay

Bebay comes from Old English bīeġan ‘to bend, turn, turn back, incline, depress,…’, from Proto-Germanic *bi- ‘by, at’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep- ‘to grab, snatch, get’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ep-1‘to grab, snatch, get’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éps1uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁épi1‘on, at’uncertain
  4. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁pi1uncertain
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bi2‘by’reconstructed
  6. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bi-3‘by, at’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150bīeġan3‘to bend, turn, turn back, incline, depress, abase, humiliate, subject, persuade, convert’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500beien3
  9. Englishtodaybebay3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bi
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bi-
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English bebay

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ep-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bi‘to grab, snatch, get’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁épsWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *biuncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁épiWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bi‘on, at’uncertain
  4. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁piWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *biuncertain
  5. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*biWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *bi-‘by’reconstructed
  6. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bi-Wiktionary, English bebay‘by, at’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150bīeġanWiktionary, English bebay‘to bend, turn, turn back, incline, depress, abase, humiliate, subject, persuade, convert’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500beienWiktionary, English bebay
  9. EnglishtodaybebayWiktionary, English bebay

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁éps

evening, 4 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi ‘on, at’

even, epic, 7 more

through Proto-Germanic *bi ‘by’

by, bye, 3 more

through Old English bīeġan ‘to bend, turn, turn back, incline, depress,…’

bail

Today it means

verb To bay around or about; embay; hem in; surround.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bebay”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *bi, Proto-Germanic *bi-. 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 *h₁ep- / bebay

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