Etymology

bounce

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Today it means: To change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle. Full definition →

Middle English bounsen
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited frombounsen
  2. English todaybounce

From Middle English bounsen, bunsen (“to beat, thump”), cognate with Scots bunce, bonce (“to bounce”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps imitative, related to bump, or related to Middle English bonchen (“to pound, beat”) and Dutch bonken (“to bump”). Compare Saterland Frisian bumzje (“to pound, bang, bounce”), West Frisian bûnzje (“to throb, bounce, pulsate”), Dutch bonzen (“to thump, knock, throb, bounce”), German Low German bunsen, bumsen (“to beat, bounce”), German bumsen (“to thud, bang, pound”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.