Etymograph

English

bother

Bother comes from Scots bauther ‘to bother’.

  1. Scotsc. 1450–presentbauther1‘to bother’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1876bother1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bother
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1876, Henry James, Jr.: “To expand, without bothering about it—without shiftless timidity on…”.

Lineage

  1. Scotsc. 1450–presentbautherWiktionary, English bother‘to bother’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1876botherWiktionary, English bother. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1876, Henry James, Jr.: “To expand, without bothering about it—without shiftless timidity on…”

The story

Perhaps related to Scots pother (‘to make a stir or commotion, bustle’), also of unknown origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Perhaps related to Irish bodhaire (‘noise’), Irish bodhraim (‘to deafen, annoy’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Scots bauther

Today it means

verb To annoy, to disturb, to irritate; to be troublesome to, to make trouble for.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bother”. 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 / Scots bauther / bother

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