Etymology

business

busi·ness
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Today it means: A specific commercial enterprise or establishment. Full definition →

Middle English bisynes ← Old English bisiġnes ← Proto-West Germanic *bisīg
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic*bisīg
  2. Old Englishbisiġ
  3. Old Englishbisiġnes
  4. Middle Englishbisynes
  5. English todaybusiness

From Middle English busines, busynes, businesse, bisynes, from Old English bisiġnes (“business, busyness”), equivalent to busy + -ness. Doublet of busyness. Sense 17 (something very good, top quality), possibly derives from "the bee's knees"

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.