Etymograph

English

bunion

Bunion comes from English bunny ‘lump, swelling’, from Lombard bugnon ‘bunyon’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- ‘thick, dense, fat’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰenǵʰ-1‘thick, dense, fat’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bungô1uncertain
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350bunga1‘an elevation, bulge’uncertain
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bugne1uncertain
  5. Lombardmodernbugnon1‘bunyon’uncertain
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentbubbone1‘swelling, bubo’uncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bony1
  8. English1500–presentbunny1‘lump, swelling’
  9. Englishtodaybunion1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bunion

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰenǵʰ-Wiktionary, English bunion‘thick, dense, fat’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bungôWiktionary, English bunionuncertain
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350bungaWiktionary, English bunion‘an elevation, bulge’uncertain
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bugneWiktionary, English bunionuncertain
  5. LombardmodernbugnonWiktionary, English bunion‘bunyon’uncertain
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentbubboneWiktionary, English bunion‘swelling, bubo’uncertain
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bonyWiktionary, English bunion
  8. English1500–presentbunnyWiktionary, English bunion‘lump, swelling’
  9. EnglishtodaybunionWiktionary, English bunion

The story

From alteration of earlier bunny (‘lump, swelling’), from Middle English bony, boni (‘bunion, swelling’), perhaps Italian bubbone (augmented form of bugno (‘beehive’)), or more likely from Lombard bugnon (‘bunyon’), all three from Old French bugne, buigne, bune (‘bump, knob, swelling’), from Old Norse bunga (‘an elevation, bulge’) or Frankish *bungjō (‘a swelling, lump, bump’), both from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô (‘lump, clump, heap, crowd’), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (‘thick, dense, fat’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- ‘thick, dense, fat’

bunch, 2 more

through Old French bugne

bun

through Middle English bony

bunny, bony

Today it means

noun A bump or bulge on the first joint of the big toe caused by the swelling of a sac of fluid under the skin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bunion”. 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 *bʰenǵʰ- / bunion

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