Etymology

humblebee

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Today it means: A bumblebee. Full definition →

Middle English humbul-be
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromhumbul-be
  2. English todayhumblebee

From Middle English humbul-be, humbulbe, hombul-be, from *humbul (“bumblebee”) + be (“bee”). See also West Frisian hommel (“bumblebee”), Dutch hommel (“bumblebee”), German Low German Hummel (“bumblebee”), German Hummel (“bumblebee”), Swedish humla (“bumblebee”), Norwegian humle (“bumblebee”); also cognate with Dutch hommelbij (“bumblebee”), Danish humlebi (“bumblebee”). Compare also English humble (“to hum”).

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishhumbul-be all →

bumblebee

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.