English
bed
Bed comes from Middle English bed ‘a bed’, from Proto-West Germanic *badi ‘plot of ground, flowerbed’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *badją.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*badją1‘resting-place’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*badi1‘plot of ground’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bedd1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bed1‘a bed’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602bed1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English bed
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Your bedded hair like life in excrements”.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*badjąWiktionary, English bed‘resting-place’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*badiWiktionary, English bed‘plot of ground’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150beddWiktionary, English bed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bedWiktionary, English bed‘a bed’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602bedWiktionary, English bed. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Your bedded hair like life in excrements”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with bed, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₁- ‘to warm’
- bath ← bæþ ← *baþ ← *baþą
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰh₂- ‘to dig, burrow’
17 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on which to rest or sleep.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “bed”. 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-Germanic *badją / bed