bunting

bunting · noun¹

1. Middle English · derived frombonten“to sift”
2. English todaybunting

Possibly from dialect bunting (“sifting flour”), from Middle English bonten (“to sift”), hence the material used for that purpose. Possibly from Germanic bundt (“to bind or tie together”).

bunting · noun²

1. Middle English · inherited frombunting
2. English todaybunting

From Middle English bunting, bountyng, buntynge (also as Middle English buntyle), of uncertain origin. Possibly a reference to speckled plumage, from an unrecorded Middle English *bunt (“spotted, speckled, pied”) akin to Dutch bont, Middle Low German bunt, bont, German bunt (“multi-coloured”) + -ing.

bunting · noun³

1. Scots · borrowed frombuntin“plump, short and thick (esp. of children)”
2. English todaybunting

1922, apparently from Scots buntin (“plump, short and thick (esp. of children)”), itself an old term of endearment for children (1660s); the sense “plump” dates to the 1500s, and may be related to bunt (“belly of a sail”). Possibly related to butt (“(both noun and verb sense: buttocks; strike with head)”) or to bunny (“rabbit”). Compare with the nursery rhyme Bye, baby Bunting (1731), either of same origin or influenced this sense.

Bunting · proper noun⁴

From bunting, a nickname for someone who resembled the songbird.