Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryA baby or infant; a very young human or animal. · An attractive person, especially a young woman. · A darling (a term of endearment).
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō-redup. Proto-Germanic *babô Proto-West Germanic *babō Old English *baba Middle English babe English babe From Middle English babe, a variant of earlier baban, perhaps from Old English *baba (“boy, child”), from Proto-West Germanic *babō, from Proto-Germanic *babô, reduplicated variant of *ba-, *bō- (“father, brother, close male relation”). cognates and related terms Related to Old Frisian bobba (“child”) (whence North Frisian babbe, babb, babe (“child”)), Old High German Babo (a male forename), see boy. Otherwise, origin obscure. Compare mama, dada, papa. Welsh baban (“baby”), believed by Skeat to be a mutation of maban, a diminutive of mab (“son”), is probably rather a borrowing from English. Cognate also with English bub.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:babe",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *bʰā-\nProto-Germanic *bō-redup.\nProto-Germanic *babô\nProto-West Germanic *babō\nOld English *baba\nMiddle English babe\nEnglish babe\n[Appendix:Glossary#reduplication|Reduplication]] of\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"boy\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"redlink\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*bʰā-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*bō-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"reduplication\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*babô\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*babō\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"*baba\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"babe\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"babe\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"babe\">"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "babe"
},
"expansion": "Middle English babe"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "*baba",
"t": "boy, child"
},
"expansion": "Old English *baba (“boy, child”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*babō"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *babō"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*babô"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *babô"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cognates and related terms"
},
"expansion": "cognates and related terms"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "bobba",
"t": "child"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian bobba (“child”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "babbe"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian babbe"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "Babo",
"3": "",
"pos": "a male forename"
},
"expansion": "Old High German Babo (a male forename)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cy",
"2": "baban",
"3": "",
"4": "baby"
},
"expansion": "Welsh baban (“baby”)"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:babe",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *bʰā-\nProto-Germanic *bō-redup.\nProto-Germanic *babô\nProto-West Germanic *babō\nOld English *baba\nMiddle English babe\nEnglish babe"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*bʰā-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰā-#Proto-Indo-European:_boy"
],
[
"*bō-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bō-"
],
[
"*babô",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/babô"
],
[
"*babō",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/babō"
],
[
"*baba",
"Reconstruction:Old English/baba"
],
[
"babe",
"babe#Middle_English"
],
[
"babe",
"babe#Middle_English"
],
[
"baban",
"baban#Middle_English"
],
[
"*baba",
"Reconstruction:Old English/baba"
],
[
"*babō",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/babō"
],
[
"*babô",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/babô"
],
[
"*ba-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/ba-"
],
[
"*bō-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bō-"
],
[
"bobba",
"bobba#Old_Frisian"
],
[
"babbe",
"babbe#North_Frisian"
],
[
"babb",
"babb#North_Frisian"
],
[
"babe",
"babe#North_Frisian"
],
[
"Babo",
"Babo#Old_High_German"
],
[
"boy",
"boy#English"
],
[
"mama",
"mama"
],
[
"dada",
"dada"
],
[
"papa",
"papa"
],
[
"baban",
"baban#Welsh"
],
[
"mab",
"mab#Welsh"
],
[
"bub",
"bub#Etymology_3"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.",
"An attractive person, especially a young woman.",
"A darling (a term of endearment)."
],
"tags": [
"literary",
"poetic",
"slang",
"endearing"
],
"recordId": "e1083074ac9a2d3addfdf191055bd5c5cdff6c572a65d3f9e4015a0041957cdb",
"rawRecordSha256": "098b59f631874ccecc9c4d7079732291593e49f309c333c6b7fa1b826115b0bd",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 192380
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
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"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 0,
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}
}