bawdy

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *bʰóltosder.

Proto-Germanic *balþaz

Frankish *balþbor.

Old French baudbor.

Middle English bawde

English bawd

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English bawdy

From bawd +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔːdi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.di/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑ.di/
• Homophone: body (cot–caught merger)
• Rhymes: -ɔːdi

Adjective

bawdy (comparative bawdier or more bawdy, superlative bawdiest or most bawdy)

1. Obscene; filthy; unchaste. [from 15th Century]
2. (of language) Sexual in nature and usually meant to be humorous but considered rude; ribald.

Derived terms

• bawdily
• bawdiness
• bawdy basket
• bawdy-house

Translations

obscene

• Bulgarian: неприличен (bg) (nepriličen), нецензурен (bg) (necenzuren)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 猥褻的 / 猥亵的 (wěixiè de), 下流的 (xiàliú de), 淫穢的 / 淫秽的 (yínhuì de)

• Czech: necudný, lascivní (cs)
• Danish: uanstændig, sjofel
• Dutch: obsceen (nl), onkuis (nl)
• Finnish: rivo (fi)
• French: grivois (fr), paillard (fr)
• German: unanständig (de)
• Greek: αισχρός (el) m (aischrós), άσεμνος (el) m (ásemnos)
• Māori: mōtekoteko, takao
• Polish: sprośny (pl), obleśny (pl)
• Romanian: obscen (ro) m
• Serbo-Croatian: nepristojan (sh) m, prost (sh) m
• Spanish: guarro (es), sucio (es), lascivo (es)
• Swedish: oanständig (sv)
• Ukrainian: непристойний m (neprystojnyj), розпусний m (rozpusnyj)

Noun

bawdy (plural bawdies)

1. A bawdy or lewd person.
   • 1983, Richard Hoyt, The Siskiyou Two-step, page 78:

     The Bawdies were girls who danced naked on a ramp in the middle of a room full of tables with tops the size of pie plates.

   • 2001, Bill Rinaldi, You Can If You Think You Can: The Power of Thinking Big, page 37:

     Our scholarly studies and discoveries about bodies and bawdies and the forbidden mysteries of S-E-X proved that participatory education had to be the very best.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “bawdy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Middle English

Adjective

bawdy

1. soiled, dirty [from 14th Century]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter V, in Le Morte Darthur, book VII:

     whanne he had ouertaken the damoysel / anone she sayd what dost thow here / thou stynkest al of the kechyn / thy clothes ben bawdy of the greece and talowe that thou gaynest in kyng Arthurs kechyn

     When he had caught up with the damsel / before long she said, Whatever are you doing here? / You totally stink of the kitchen. / Your clothes are soiled with the grease and fat that you got in King Arthur’s kitchen.