Etymograph

English

booth

Booth comes from Middle English bothe ‘a store, kiosk or booth, especially a…’, from Proto-Germanic *bōþō ‘building, hut’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-1‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*būaną1‘to dwell, reside’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bōþō1‘building, hut’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350búð1‘a temporary building, tent, booth’
  5. Old East Norsemodern*bóð1reconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bothe1‘a store, kiosk or booth, especially a temporary one’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1922booth1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English booth
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, Eric Rücker Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance: “When Gro came to the Witches’ booths he found…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-Wiktionary, English booth‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*būanąWiktionary, English booth‘to dwell, reside’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bōþōWiktionary, English booth‘building, hut’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350búðWiktionary, English booth‘a temporary building, tent, booth’
  5. Old East Norsemodern*bóðWiktionary, English boothreconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500botheWiktionary, English booth‘a store, kiosk or booth, especially a temporary one’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1922boothWiktionary, English booth. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, Eric Rücker Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance: “When Gro came to the Witches’ booths he found…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’

be, been, power, possible, future, present, build, physical, improve, presence, essential, bush, absence, contribution, bond, physician, entity, approve, probability, absent, favorable, distribute, contributor, fiat, bun, favourable, retribution, attribution, imp, bouquet, rebuke, impossibility, impotent, aren, bower, beamer, phylogeny, physic, phylum, approbation, 81 more

through Proto-Germanic *būaną ‘to dwell, reside’

bound, bondage, busk, 5 more

through Middle English bothe ‘a store, kiosk or booth, especially a…’

both

Today it means

noun A small stall for the display and sale of goods.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “booth”. 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 *bʰuH- / booth

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