Etymograph

English

bede

Bede comes from Middle English bēden ‘to offer’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- ‘to be awake, be aware’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewdʰ-1‘to be awake, be aware’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*beudaną1‘to offer, to bid’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*beudan1‘to offer, bid’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bēodan1‘to offer, give’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bēden1‘to offer’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1450bede1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bede
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1450, Merlin:: “They of londone […] boden hem to ben lyht…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewdʰ-Wiktionary, English bede‘to be awake, be aware’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*beudanąWiktionary, English bede‘to offer, to bid’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*beudanWiktionary, English bede‘to offer, bid’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150bēodanWiktionary, English bede‘to offer, give’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bēdenWiktionary, English bede‘to offer’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1450bedeWiktionary, English bede. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1450, Merlin:: “They of londone […] boden hem to ben lyht…”

The story

Germanic cognates include Old Frisian biada, Old Saxon biodan (Low German bieden, beden), Dutch bieden, Old High German biotan (German bieten), Old Norse bjóða (Swedish bjuda (‘command, show’)), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (anabiudan). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek πεύθομαι (peúthomai, “ask for”), Sanskrit बोधयति (bodhayati, “wake”), Old Church Slavonic бъдѣти (bŭděti) (Russian будить (buditʹ, “wake”)), Lithuanian budeti (‘awake’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- ‘to be awake, be aware’

body, verboten, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *beudaną ‘to offer, to bid’

bode, beadle, 1 more

through Old English bēodan ‘to offer, give’

abode

through Middle English bēden ‘to offer’

bid

Today it means

verb pray, offer, proffer

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bede”. 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 *bʰewdʰ- / bede

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