Etymology

bean

B3E1A1N1

Today it means: Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods. Full definition →

Middle English bene ← Old English bēan ← Proto-West Germanic *baunu
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bean · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰabʰ-?
  2. Proto-Germanic*babnōder.?
  3. Proto-Germanic*baunō
  4. Proto-West Germanic*baunu
  5. Old Englishbēan
  6. Middle Englishbene
  7. English todaybean

From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), North Frisian buan, Saterland Frisian Boone, West Frisian bean, beanne, Dutch boon, German Bohne, Luxembourgish Boun, Danish bønne, Faroese bøn, bøna, Icelandic baun, Norwegian Bokmål bønne, Norwegian Nynorsk bauna, baune, bogna, bønne, Swedish böna, Irish pónaire, Manx poanrey, Scottish Gaelic pònair, Latin faba, Russian боб (bob), Serbo-Croatian bȍb /бо̏б. Doublet of fava.

Bean · proper noun2

Probably an occupational surname for a bean farmer, from bean.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishbene all →

bene

Old Englishbēan all →

BentonBancroftBanfieldBanhamBeanlandBinstedBinstead

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.