bahut

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French bahut, of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈhʊt/, /bəˈhuːt/

Noun

bahut (plural bahuts)

1. (obsolete) A portable coffer or chest with a rounded lid covered in leather, garnished with nails, once used for the transport of clothes or other personal luggage. It was the original portmanteau.
2. (obsolete, architecture) A dwarf-wall of plain masonry, carrying the roof of a cathedral or church and masked or hidden behind the balustrade.

Usage notes

• Towards the end of the 17th century, the name fell into disuse and was replaced by coffer, which probably accounts for its misuse by the French romantic writers of the early 19th century. They applied it to almost any antique sideboard, cupboard or wardrobe, and its use became hopelessly confused.

References

• Bahut in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• thaub, bhuta

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French bahur. Further origin unknown, most hypotheses being weak in one respect or another (cf. Further reading below). Bratchet suggests Middle High German behut (“hutch for provisions”) or Frankish *baghūdi, *baghōdi (“sideboard”), from Proto-Germanic *bagg- (possibly related to Old Norse baggi, Proto-Germanic *pakkô) + *hūdiz (“hide, protection”).

Compare Italian baule, Ladino baul, Portuguese baú.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.y/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bahut m (plural bahuts)

1. chest; sideboard
2. (school slang) school
3. (colloquial) lorry, truck; (taxi) cab

Further reading

• “bahut”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.