babe
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English babe, a variant of earlier baban, perhaps from Old English *baba (“boy, child”), from Proto-Germanic *babô, reduplicated variant of *ba-, *bō- (“father, brother, close male relation”).
cognates and related terms
Related to Old Frisian bobba (“child”), Old High German Babo (a male forename), see boy. Otherwise, origin obscure. Compare mama, dada, papa. Welsh baban (“baby”), believed by Skeat to be a mutation of maban, a diminutive of mab ("son"), is probably rather a borrowing from English.[1] Cognate also with English bub.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
babe (plural babes)
- (literary or poetic) A baby or infant; a very young human or animal. [from 14th c.]
- These events came to pass when he was but a babe.
- 1874, James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night:
- Though he possess sweet babes and loving wife,
A home of peace by loyal friendships cheered,
And love them more than death or happy life,
- (slang) An attractive person, especially a young woman. [from 20th c.]
- 2002, Charles Hebbert, Dan Richardson, The Rough Guide to Budapest, 2nd edition, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 73:
- During the 1980s, its vivid streetlife became a symbol of the “consumer socialism” that distinguished Hungary from other Eastern Bloc states, but Budapesters today are rather less enamoured of Váci: dressed-to-kill babes and their sugar daddies would rather pose in malls, and teenagers can find McDonald's anywhere, leaving Váci utterly dependent on tourists for its livelihood and bustle.
- She's a real babe!
- (endearing) Darling (term of endearment).
- Hey, babe, how's about you and me getting together?
- 1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post[1]:
- But, Babe, you don't have to meet 'em if you don't want to.
Synonyms[edit]
- (infant): baby, child, infant
- (attractive person): looker; See Thesaurus:beautiful person
- (woman): hottie, doll, fox; See: Thesaurus:beautiful woman
- (darling): darling, dear, love, sweetheart
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
baby or infant — see baby
attractive person
darling — see baby
References[edit]
- ^ Whitney, The Century dictionary and cylcopedia, babe.
Anagrams[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old English *baba.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
babe (plural babes)
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “bābe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Portuguese[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
babe
- first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of babar
- third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of babar
- third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of babar
- third-person singular (você) negative imperative of babar
Romanian[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
babe f pl
Serbo-Croatian[edit]
Noun[edit]
babe (Cyrillic spelling бабе)
- inflection of baba:
Slovak[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
babe
Swazi[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Bantu *bààbá.
Noun[edit]
babé 1a (plural bóbabé 2a)
Inflection[edit]
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/eɪb
- Rhymes:English/eɪb/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English literary terms
- English poetic terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English slang
- English endearing terms
- English terms of address
- en:Babies
- en:People
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- enm:Babies
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Portuguese/abi
- Rhymes:Portuguese/abi/2 syllables
- Rhymes:Portuguese/abɨ
- Rhymes:Portuguese/abɨ/2 syllables
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese non-lemma forms
- Portuguese verb forms
- Romanian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Romanian non-lemma forms
- Romanian noun forms
- Serbo-Croatian non-lemma forms
- Serbo-Croatian noun forms
- Slovak terms with IPA pronunciation
- Slovak non-lemma forms
- Slovak noun forms
- Swazi terms inherited from Proto-Bantu
- Swazi terms derived from Proto-Bantu
- Swazi lemmas
- Swazi nouns
- Swazi class 1a nouns