Etymology

bawdy

B3A1W4D2Y4

Today it means: Obscene; filthy; unchaste. Full definition →

First used 15th CenturyEnglish bawd ← Middle English bawde ← Old French baud
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰóltos
  3. Proto-Germanic*balþaz
  4. Frankish*balþ
  5. Old Frenchbaud
  6. Middle Englishbawde
  7. Englishbawd
  8. English todaybawdy

From bawd + -y.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 15th Century Obscene; filthy; unchaste.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.