Etymology

belt

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Today it means: A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing. Full definition →

Middle English belt ← Old English belt ← Proto-West Germanic *baltī̆
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belt · noun, verb1

  1. Latin · derived frombalteus“belt, sword-belt”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*baltijaz“girdle, belt”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*baltī̆
  4. Old English · inherited frombelt“belt, girdle”
  5. Middle English · inherited frombelt
  6. English todaybelt

From Middle English belt, from Old English belt (“belt, girdle”), from Proto-West Germanic *baltī̆, from Proto-Germanic *baltijaz (“girdle, belt”), from Latin balteus (“belt, sword-belt”), of Etruscan origin. Cognate with Scots belt (“belt”), Dutch belt, German Balz (“belt”), Danish bælte (“belt”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk belte (“belt”), Swedish bälte (“belt, cincture, girdle, zone”), Faroese and Icelandic belti (“belt”).

Belt · proper noun2

* As an English and north/Low German surname, from the noun belt. * As a German surname, short form of the old Germanic name Baldher, composed of *balþ (“bold”) + *hari (“army”). Compare Belter. * Also as a north/Low German surname, from the place name Beelte, a small town in Giesen. * As a Dutch surname Van den Belt, from the noun belt (“low hill”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*baltijaz all →

baltic

Latinbalteus all →

baldricbalteus

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.