Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: bak- 'stick, staff; to hit, peg'
Semantic Field(s): Arms, Weapons, to Hit, Strike, Beat
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Cornish: | pig | n | peg, prick | CDC |
| Welsh: | pegor | n | peg, pivot | CDC |
| pegwn | n | peg, pole, axis, pivot, spindle | CDC | |
| pig | n | peg, peak, point | CDC | |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | pægel | n.masc | pail, wine-bucket | ASD/IEW |
| Middle English: | bail | n | bail, custody | W7 |
| bailie, baillif | n | bailie/bailiff | W7 | |
| baill(i) | n | bailey; prison | MEV/W7 | |
| baillifwik, bailiewike | n | bailiwick | AHD | |
| pegge | n | peg | W7 | |
| English: | bacillus | n | aerobic rod-shaped bacterium | AHD/W7 |
| bacterium, bacteria | n | microscopic single-celled organism | AHD/W7 | |
| baculiform | adj | rod-shaped | AHD/W7 | |
| baguette | n | bead, molding smaller than astragal | AHD/W7 | |
| bail | n | security for appearance | W7 | |
| bailey | n | outer wall of castle | AHD/W7 | |
| bailie | n.dial | bailiff | W7 | |
| bailiff | n | sheriff's employee, minor court officer | W7 | |
| bailiwick | n | office/jurisdiction of bailiff | AHD/W7 | |
| campylobacter | n | lit. twisted bacteria | AHD | |
| debacle | n | violent breakup of river ice | AHD/W7 | |
| imbecile | n | mentally deficient person | AHD/W7 | |
| pail | n | bucket | IEW | |
| peg | n | plug, pin for a hole | AHD/W7 | |
| peg | vb | to restrict, pin down, put peg into | W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Middle Dutch: | pegge | n | peg, pin | AHD |
| German: | Bakterie | n.fem | bacterium | LRC |
| Bazille | n.fem | bacillus | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Danish: | pig | n | peg, spike | CDC |
| pik | n | peg, pike | CDC | |
| pægel | n | pail, half a pint | ASD | |
| Swedish: | pigg | n | peg, spike | CDC |
| pik | n | peg, pike | CDC | |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | bacillum | n.neut.dim | small staff | CLD |
| baculus, baculum | n.masc/neut | staff, walking stick | CLD/W7 | |
| bāulus | n | carrier | AHD | |
| imbēcillus, imbēcilla, imbēcillum | adj | weak, feeble, weak-minded | CLD/W7 | |
| Vulgar Latin: | bacculo, bacculare | vb | to bar with a stick | W7 |
| Middle Latin: | bal(l)ium | n | bailey | CDC |
| Medieval Latin: | bacillus | n.masc.dim | small rod/staff | W7 |
| *bāiulīvus | n | steward, estate overseer | AHD | |
| New Latin: | bacterium | n.neut | microscopic plant | W7 |
| Old French: | bail | n | bail, custody, jurisdiction | W7 |
| baille | n.fem | wet-nurse, nanny | W7 | |
| baillif | n | bailiff | W7 | |
| balie | n.fem | bailey, palisade | W7 | |
| Middle French: | bacler | vb | to bar | W7 |
| desbacler | vb | to unbar | W7 | |
| French: | baguette | n.fem | small stick; loaf of French bread | W7 |
| bailli | n.masc | bailie | LRC | |
| bailliage | n.masc | bailiwick | LRC | |
| débâcle | n.fem | debacle | W7 | |
| débâcler | vb | to unbar | W7 | |
| imbécile | n.masc | idiot | W7 | |
| Old Provençal: | baclar | vb | to bar (with a stick) | W7 |
| Italian: | bacchio | n | rod, stick | CDC |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | βακτηρία | n.fem | cane, staff | LS |
| βακτήριον | n.neut.dim | small cane/staff | LS | |
| βάκτρον | n.neut | rod, stick, staff, cudgel | LS | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| dial | = | dialectal |
| dim | = | diminutive |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) |
| CDC | = | W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911) |
| CLD | = | Cassell's Latin Dictionary (1959, rev. 1968) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| LS | = | Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev. |
| MEV | = | J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
