bustle

bustle · noun, verb¹

1. Middle English · derived frombusten
2. Old Norse · derived frombúask“to prepare oneself”
3. Middle English · derived frombusken“to prepare; make ready”
4. Middle English · inherited frombustlen
5. English todaybustle

From Middle English bustlen, bustelen, bostlen, perhaps an alteration of *busklen (> Modern English buskle), a frequentative of Middle English busken (“to prepare; make ready”), from Old Norse búask (“to prepare oneself”); or alternatively from a frequentative form of Middle English busten, bisten (“to buffet; pummel; dash; beat”) + -le. Compare also Icelandic bustla (“to splash; bustle”). The etymology of noun sense 3 is uncertain, perhaps related to busk (“strip in a corset”) or German Buschel.

Bustle · proper noun²

1. German · derived fromBastl
2. English todayBustle

Possibly an Americanized spelling of South German Bastl or a variant of Bussell.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from early 17th c. An excited activity; a stir.
• from late 18th c. A frame worn underneath a woman's skirt, typically only protruding from the rear as opposed to the earlier more circular hoops.