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: bheid-   'to bite, prick, pierce, split'

Semantic Field(s): to Bite, Sharp, to Split

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
Celtic  
Irish: bad n boat CDC
Gaelic: bata n boat CDC
Welsh: bad n boat CDC
English  
Old English: bǣtan vb to bait W7
bǣting, bēting n bitt, rope, cable CDC
bāt n.fem bait CDC/OED
bāt n.masc boat W7
bita n.masc bit, bite, piece, morsel ASD/W7
bītan vb.str.I to bite GED
bīte n.masc bite, pain, disease ASD/W7
bītel(a), bētl n.masc beetle ASD/CDC
bit(t)er adj bitter ASD/W7
bit(t)or adj bitter ASD/GED
bitula n beetle W7
(ge)bǣtan vb.wk to bit, bridle ASD/CDC
ge-bǣte(l) n.neut thing bitten ASD/CDC
Northumbrian: bīta vb to bite, dismember, pluck to pieces ASD
Middle English: abetten vb to abet W7
bait, bayte, beite, beyte n bait CDC
betylle, bytylle n beetle CDC/W7
bit n bit: morsel W7
bite, byt(e) n bit, bite, piece, morsel CDC
biten vb to bite W7
bitle, bityl n beetle CDC
bitt n bit: bridle W7
bitte, bytt(e) n bit: blade, thing bitten CDC/MEV
bit(t)er, bittir, bytter adj bitter CDC/MEV/W7
boot, bot(e) n boat CDC/W7
fente, vente n vent W7
English: abet vb.trans to instigate, encourage AHD/W7
bait n food used to entice prey AHD/OED
bateau n small craft AHD/W7
beetle n insect with 2 pairs of wings AHD/W7
bit n morsel, small amount of food AHD/W7
bit n thing (e.g. bridle) bitten/held with teeth AHD/W7
bit n blade, cutting edge MEV
bit vb to curb, put bit in mouth W7
bite, bit, bitten vb.str to seize with jaws/teeth/analogous organ AHD/W7
bite n act/manner of biting W7
bitt n post on ship to secure lines AHD/W7
bitter adj acrid/astringent/disagreeable in taste AHD/W7
boat n small vessel propelled by oars/paddles/sail AHD/W7
-fid adj divided into parts AHD/W7
fissile adj divisible AHD/W7
fission n breaking/splitting into parts AHD/W7
fissure n narrow crack/opening (indicating split) AHD/W7
vent n slit in garment AHD/W7
West Germanic  
Old Frisian: bīta vb.str.I to bite GED
bita n bit: morsel CDC
biti, bit(e) n bit: thing bitten CDC
Middle Dutch: bete n bit: thing bitten CDC
boot n boat CDC
Dutch: beet n bit CDC
beetje n bit: morsel, small portion CDC
beting n bitt CDC
bijten vb to bite CDC
bitter adj bitter ASD
boot n.fem boat ASD
Old Saxon: bītan vb.str.I to bite GED
biti n bit: thing bitten CDC
bittar adj bitter GED
Middle Low German: bet(e) n bit: morsel CDC
bīten vb to bite CDC
bit(te) n thing bitten CDC
bōt n boat CDC
Low German: bet, bit n bit: thing bitten CDC
beten n bit: morsel CDC
biten vb to bite CDC
boot n boat CDC
Old High German: bītan vb.str.I to bite GED
bittar adj bitter GED
bittirī n.wk.fem bitterness GED
biz n bit: thing bitten CDC
bīzan vb to bite W7
bizzo n bit: morsel CDC
Middle High German: beiz n.neut hunting CDC/OED
beize n.fem bait CDC/OED
bitter adj bitter ASD
biz n bit: thing bitten CDC
bīzen vb to bite CDC
bizze n bit: morsel CDC
German: Bäting n bitt CDC
beissen vb to bite CDC
Biss n.masc bite, sting CDC
Bissen n.masc bit: morsel CDC
bitter adj bitter ASD
Boot n.neut boat LRC
Gebiss n.neut bit: thing bitten CDC
North Germanic  
Old Norse: beit n boat W7
beit n.neut pasturage W7
beita n.fem bait W7
biti n beam W7
bitill, bitull n beetle KNW
bíta vb to bite, cut LRC
Old Icelandic: beiskr adj bitter, evil GED
bitr adj bitter GED
bīta vb.str.I to bite GED
Icelandic: bātr n.masc boat ASD/CDC
beit n boat CDC
beita n.fem bait CDC
bit n bit: thing bitten CDC
biti n bit: morsel CDC
bitr adj bitter CDC
bīta vb to bite CDC
Danish: baad n boat CDC
bed n bit: thing bitten CDC
bede n bait, pasture CDC
beding n bitt(s) CDC
bid n bit: morsel CDC
bide vb to bite CDC
bille n beetle TLL
bitter adj bitter ASD
Swedish: beta n bait, pasture CDC
beting n bitt(s) CDC
bett n.neut bit: thing bitten CDC
bit n bit: morsel CDC
bita vb to bite CDC
bitter adj bitter ASD
båt n.masc boat ASD/CDC
East Germanic  
Gothic: baitraba adv bitterly GED
*baitrs adj bitter GED
*beitan vb.str.I to bite GED
Italic  
Latin: -fidus adj.sfx divided W7
findo, findere, fīdī, fissus vb to split W7
fissio, fissionis n.fem act of splitting W7
Middle Latin: bat(t)us n boat CDC
Portuguese: abitas n.pl bitt CDC
fender vb to split TLL
Spanish: batel n.dim boat CDC
bitas n.pl bitt CDC
hender vb to split TLL
Old French: bat n boat CDC
batel n.masc.dim small boat W7
Middle French: abeter vb to bait W7
fendre vb to split W7
fente n.fem vent, fissure W7
French: bateau n.masc boat W7
bit(t)es n.pl bitt CDC
fendre vb to split TLL
Canadian French: bateau n.masc boat W7
Provençal: batelh n.dim small boat CDC
Italian: battello n.dim small boat CDC
batto n boat CDC
bitte n.pl bitt CDC
fendere vb to split TLL
Hellenic  
Greek: φείδομαι vb to spare, separate oneself from GED
Indic  
Sanskrit: bhid vb to bite ASD
bhinádmi vb.aor split GED

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
I=class 1
adj=adjective
adv=adverb(ial)
aor=aorist (tense)
dim=diminutive
fem=feminine (gender)
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
neut=neuter (gender)
pl=plural (number)
sfx=suffix
str=strong (inflection)
trans=transitive
vb=verb
wk=weak (inflection)

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)
GED=Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
KNW=Gerhard Köbler: Altnordisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
MEV=J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
OED=James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933)
TLL=Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

Nearby etymon:    previous   |   next


  • Linguistics Research Center

    University of Texas at Austin
    PCL 5.556
    Mailcode S5490
    Austin, Texas 78712
    512-471-4566

  • For comments and inquiries, or to report issues, please contact the Web Master at UTLRC@utexas.edu