Etymograph

English

bide

Bide comes from Middle English biden ‘to stay, wait, remain’, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydʰeti ‘to trust’, and ultimately from *bʰeydʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-1‘to command, persuade, compel, trust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéydʰeti1‘to trust’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bīdaną1‘to wait’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bīdan1‘to wait’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bīdan1‘to stay, continue, live, remain, delay’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500biden1‘to stay, wait, remain’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1570bide1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bide
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1570, anonymous author: “And doubting naught right courteous all, in your accustomed…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-Wiktionary, English bide‘to command, persuade, compel, trust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéydʰetiWiktionary, English bide‘to trust’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bīdanąWiktionary, English bide‘to wait’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bīdanWiktionary, English bide‘to wait’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bīdanWiktionary, English bide‘to stay, continue, live, remain, delay’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bidenWiktionary, English bide‘to stay, wait, remain’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1570bideWiktionary, English bide. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1570, anonymous author: “And doubting naught right courteous all, in your accustomed…”

The story

Latinate cognates (via PIE) include faith and fidelity.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to command, persuade, compel, trust’

federal, federation, confederate, defiance, affidavit, fidelity, defy, foi, fealty, bode, confidante, infidel, perfidy, 26 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydʰeti ‘to trust’

confidence, confident, fiduciary, confidant, confide, diffident, 7 more

Today it means

verb To bear; to endure; to tolerate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bide”. 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 *bʰeydʰ- / bide

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