Etymology

baa

B3A1A1

Today it means: The characteristic cry or bleating of a sheep or (broader) a sheep or goat. Full definition →

Arabic بَاء
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baa · noun, interjection, verb1

Compare German bäh, mäh; an imitative word. Notes on phonological development The pronunciation /bɑː/ is perhaps a development from earlier /bæː/ reflecting the shift of /æː/ to /ɑː/ during the 18th and 19th centuries. Compare Early Modern English bae, bea, both "to baa", respectively displaying the then current pronunciation of Middle English /aː/ as /æː/ and the failure of Middle English /ɛː/ to raise, and the replacement of mew with meow for another instance where recent sound change has made onomatopoeia opaque.

baa · noun2

  1. Arabic · borrowed fromبَاء
  2. Arabic · borrowed fromبَاء
  3. English todaybaa

Borrowed from Arabic بَاء (bāʔ).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.