Etymograph

English

bunny

From bun (“rabbit”) + -y (diminutive suffix).

The story

Probably from Scottish Gaelic bun (‘bottom, butt, stump, stub’), from Old Irish bun (‘the thick end of anything, base, butt, foot’), from Proto-Celtic *bonus, though its origin is uncertain.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Together with rabbit, bunny has largely displaced its former rhyme cony (see cony for more).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Another origin of bunny

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bungôreconstructed
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*bungjo‘swelling, bump’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400bugne
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bony
  5. Englishtodaybunny

Another origin of bunny

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150bune‘cup, beaker, drinking vessel’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bune‘hollow stalk or stem, drinking straw’
  3. Englishtodaybunny

Today it means

noun A rabbit, especially a juvenile one.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bunny”. 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 / bunny

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