been

been · verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
3. Proto-Germanic*ga-
4. Proto-West Germanic*ga-
5. Old Englishġe-
6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰuH-
7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰuHyétider.?
8. Proto-Germanic*beuną
9. Proto-West Germanic*beun
10. Old Englishbēon
11. Old Englishġebēon
12. Middle Englishbeen
13. English todaybeen

From Middle English been (past participle), from Old English (ġe)bēon. By surface analysis, be + -en.

been · verb²

1. Old English · inherited frombēon
2. Middle English · inherited frombeen“to be”
3. English todaybeen

Either from Middle English been (“to be”, infinitive) (from Old English bēon, equivalent to be + -en (infinitive ending)), or from a dialectal use of the preceding past tense form as an infinitive form (compare dialectal use of (I)'s, (I) is in the first person, (he) am in the third person, etc).

been · verb³

1. Middle English · inherited frombeen
2. English todaybeen

From Middle English been (plural indicative form); equivalent to be + -en (plural present ending).

been · noun⁴

1. Old English · inherited frombēon“bees”
2. Middle English · inherited frombeen
3. English todaybeen

From Middle English been, bene, ben, beon, from Old English bēon (“bees”), equivalent to bee + -en (plural ending).

Words from the same roots