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) |
