Etymology

busy

bus·y
B3U1S1Y4

Today it means: Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on. Full definition →

Middle English bisy ← Old English bisiġ ← Proto-West Germanic *bisīg
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busy · adjective, noun1

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*bisīg“diligent; zealous; busy”
  2. Old English · inherited frombisiġ“busy, occupied, diligent”
  3. Middle English · inherited frombisy
  4. English todaybusy

From Middle English bisy, busie, from Old English bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīg (“diligent; zealous; busy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”), Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”). The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɪ/ is from the dialects of the East Midlands.

busy · verb2

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*bisīgōn
  2. Old English · inherited frombisgian“to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict”
  3. Middle English · inherited frombisien
  4. English todaybusy

From Middle English bisien, from Old English bisgian (“to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīgōn. Cognate with Old Frisian bisgia (“to use”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.