babe
English edit
Etymology edit
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”).
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.[1] Cognate also with English bub.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
babe (plural babes)
- (literary or poetic) A baby or infant; a very young human or animal. [from 14th c.]
- These events came to pass when he was but a babe.
- 1874, James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night:
- Though he possess sweet babes and loving wife,
A home of peace by loyal friendships cheered,
And love them more than death or happy life,
- (slang) An attractive person, especially a young woman. [from 20th c.]
- She's a real babe!
- 2002, Charles Hebbert, Dan Richardson, The Rough Guide to Budapest, 2nd edition, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 73:
- During the 1980s, its vivid streetlife became a symbol of the “consumer socialism” that distinguished Hungary from other Eastern Bloc states, but Budapesters today are rather less enamoured of Váci: dressed-to-kill babes and their sugar daddies would rather pose in malls, and teenagers can find McDonald's anywhere, leaving Váci utterly dependent on tourists for its livelihood and bustle.
- (endearing) Darling (term of endearment).
- Hey, babe, how's about you and me getting together?
- 1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post[1]:
- But, Babe, you don't have to meet 'em if you don't want to.
Synonyms edit
- (infant): baby, child, infant
- (attractive person): looker; See Thesaurus:beautiful person
- (woman): hottie, doll, fox; See: Thesaurus:beautiful woman
- (darling): darling, dear, love, sweetheart
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
References edit
- ^ Whitney, The Century dictionary and cylcopedia, babe.
Anagrams edit
Galician edit
Verb edit
babe
- inflection of babar:
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old English *baba.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
babe (plural babes)
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
References edit
- “bābe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Portuguese edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
babe
- inflection of babar:
Romanian edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
babe f pl
Serbo-Croatian edit
Noun edit
babe (Cyrillic spelling бабе)
- inflection of baba:
Slovak edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
babe
Swazi edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Bantu *bààbá.
Noun edit
babé class 1a (plural bóbabé class 2a)
Inflection edit
This noun needs an inflection-table template.