Online Etymology Dictionary

bigamy: c.1250, from O.Fr. bigamie, from L.L. bigamus "twice married," from bi- "double" + Gk. gamos "marrying" (see gamete).
"Bigamie is unkinde ðing, On engleis tale, twie-wifing." [c.1250]
Bigamist is attested from 1631.
bigger: comp. of big (q.v.).
biggest: superl. of big (q.v.).
bight: O.E. byht "bend, angle, corner" (related to bow), from P.Gmc. *bukhtis (cf. M.L.G. bucht, Ger. Bucht, Du. bocht). Geological sense of "indentation on a coastline" is from 1481.
bigot: 1598, from M.Fr. bigot, from O.Fr., supposedly a derogatory name for Normans, the old theory (not universally accepted) being that it springs from their frequent use of O.E. oath bi God. Plausible, since the Eng. were known as goddamns in Joan of Arc's France, and during World War I Americans serving in France were said to be known as les sommobiches (see also son of a bitch). But the earliest Fr. use of the word (12c.) is as the name of a people apparently in southern Gaul. The earliest Eng. sense is of "religious hypocrite," especially a female one, and may be influenced by beguine. Sense extended 1687 to other than religious opinions.
bigotry: 1674, from Fr. bigoterie (see bigot).
bigwig: 1731, from big + wig, in ref. to the imposing wigs formerly worn by men of rank or authority.
bijou: 1668, from Fr., from Breton bizou "(jeweled) ring," from bez "finger" (cf. Cornish bisou "finger-ring," 13c.).
bike: 1882, Amer.Eng., shortened and altered form of bicycle.
bikini: 1948, from Fr. coinage, 1947, named for U.S. A-bomb test of June 1946 on Bikini, Marshall Islands atoll, locally Pikinni and said to derive from pik "surface" and ni "coconut," but this is uncertain. Various explanations for the swimsuit name have been suggested, none convincingly, the best being an analogy of the explosive force of the bomb and the impact of the bathing suit style on men's libidos (cf. c.1900 British slang assassin "an ornamental bow worn on the female breast," so called because it was very "killing").
"Bikini, ce mot cinglant comme l'explosion même ... correspondant au niveau du vêtement de plage à on antéantissement de la surface vêtue; à une minimisation extrême de la pudeur." [Le Monde, 1947]
Variant style trikini (1967), with separate bra cups held on by Velcro, falsely presumes a compound in bi-.
bilateral: 1775, from bi- + lateral (q.v.).
bilbo: "kind of sword noted for temper and elasticity," 1598, from Bilbao, town in northern Spain where swords were made, in Eng. Bilboa.
Bildungsroman: 1910, from Ger., from bildung "education" + roman "novel." A novel set in the formative years, or the time of spiritual education, of the main character.
bile: 1665, from Fr. bile, from L. bilis "fluid secreted by the liver," also one of the four humors (also known as choler), thus "anger, peevishness" (especially as black bile, 1797).
bilge: 1513, "lowest internal part of a ship," also "the foulness which collects there," variant of bulge "ship's hull," also "leather bag," from O.N.Fr. boulge "leather sack," from L.L. bulga "leather sack," apparently from Gaulish bulga.
biliary: "pertaining to bile," 1731, from Fr. biliaire (see bile). Meaning "bilious in mood or temperament" is recorded from 1837.
bilingual: 1847, from bi- + lingual. Bilingualism is recorded from 1873.
bilious: 1541, "pertaining to bile, biliary," from Fr. bilieux, from L. biliosus, from bilis (see bile). Meaning "wrathful, peevish, ill-tempered" (as people afflicted with an excess of bile were believed to be) is attested from 1561. This is the main modern sense; the more literal meaning being taken up by biliary.
bilirubin: "reddish pigment found in bile," 1871, from Ger. bilirubin (1864), from bili- (see bile) + L. ruber "red" (see red).
bilk (v.): 1651, from the noun (1633), first used as a cribbage term. Origin obscure, it was believed in 17c. to be "a word signifying nothing," perhaps of Arabic origin; but it is rather perhaps a thinned form of balk. Meaning "to defraud" is first recorded 1672.
bill (1): "written statement," mid-14c., from Anglo-L. billa "list," from M.L. bulla "decree, seal, document," in classical L. "bubble, boss, stud, amulet for the neck" (hence "seal;" see bull (2)). Sense of "account, invoice" first recorded c.1400; that of "order to pay" (technically bill of exchange) is from 1570s; that of "paper money" is from 1660s. Meaning "draft of an act of Parliament" is from 1510s. The verb meaning "to send someone a bill of charge" is from 1867. Billable is recorded from 1570s.
bill (2): "bird's beak," O.E., related to bil, a poetic word for "a kind of sword" (especially one with a hooked blade), common Gmc. word for cutting weapons (cf. O.H.G. bihal, O.N. bilda "hatchet," O.S. bil "sword"), from PIE base *bhei- "to cut." Used also in M.E. of beak-like projections of land.
billabong: Australian, "backwater, stagnant pool," 1865, from Billibang, Aboriginal name of Bell River, from billa "water" + bang, of uncertain meaning.
billboard: 1851, Amer.Eng., from bill (1) + board. Any sort of board where bills were meant to be posted.
billet: 1599, "to assign quarters to," earlier "official record or register" (M.E.), from Anglo-Fr. billette "list, schedule," dim. of bille (see bill (1)).
billet-doux: also billet doux, 1673, "love letter," from Fr., lit. "sweet note," from billet "document, note" (dim. of bille) + doux "sweet," from L. dulcis (see dulcet).
billfold: 1895, from bill (1) + fold, here perhaps short for folder.
billiard: sing. of billiards (q.v.), used only in combinations.
billiards: 1591, from Fr. billiard, originally the wooden cue stick, from O.Fr. bille "stick of wood," from Gaul. *bilia "tree."
billing: 1875, "announcement on a bill or poster," from bill (1). Meaning "act of sending out a bill" is recorded from 1908.
billingsgate: 1676, the kind of coarse, abusive language once used by women in the Billingsgate fish market on the River Thames below London Bridge (c.1250).
"Billingsgate is the market where the fishwomen assemble to purchase fish; and where, in their dealings and disputes they are somewhat apt to leave decency and good manners a little on the left hand." ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]
billion: 1690, from Fr. billion (originally byllion in Chuquet's unpublished "Le Triparty en la Science des Nombres", 1484; copied by De la Roche, 1520), from bi- "two" + (m)illion. A million million in Britain and Germany (numeration by groups of sixes), which was the original sense; subsequently altered in Fr. to "a thousand million" (numeration by groups of threes) and picked up in that form in U.S., "due in part to French influence after the Revolutionary War." France then reverted to the original meaning in 1948. British usage is truer to the etymology, but U.S. sense is increasingly common there in technical writing.
billionaire: 1861, Amer.Eng., from billion on model of millionaire. The first in the U.S. likely was John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), some time after World War I.
billow: 1552, perhaps older in dialectal use, from O.N. bylgja "a wave," from P.Gmc. *bulgjan, from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell" (see belly). Billowing is recorded from 1718. Billowy is from c.1615.
billy: "club," 1848, Amer.Eng., originally burglars' slang for "crowbar;" meaning "policeman's club" first recorded 1856, probably from nickname of William, applied to various objects (cf. jack, jimmy, jenny).
bimbo: 1919, "fellow, chap," from It. variant of bambino "baby," first in Italian-accented theater dialogue. Originally especially "stupid, inconsequential man, contemptible person;" by 1920 the sense of "floozie" had developed (popularized by "Variety" staffer Jack Conway, d.1928). Resurrection during 1980s U.S. sex scandals led to derivatives including dim. bimbette (1990) and male form himbo (1988).
bimodal: 1903, in statistics, from bi- + modal.
bimonthly: 1846, "every two months," from bi- + monthly (see month). Also bi-monthly.
bin: O.E. binne "manger, crib," from Gaulish, from O.Celt. *benna, akin to Welsh benn "a cart," especially one with a woven wicker body. The same Celtic word seems to be preserved in It. benna "dung cart," Fr. benne "grape-gatherer's creel," Du. benne "large basket," from L.L. benna. Some linguists think there was a parallel Gmc. form to the Celtic one.
binary: 1460, from L.L. binarius, from bini "two-by-two," from bis "double." Binary code in computer terminology was in use by 1952, though the idea itself is ancient. Binary star in astronomy is from 1802.
binaural: "pertaining to both ears," 1861, from bi- + aural. In ref. to electronic recordings, from 1933.
bind: O.E. bindan "to tie up with bonds" (lit. and fig.), also "to make captive, to cover with dressings and bandages" (class III strong verb; past tense band, pp. bunden), from PIE base *bhendh- "to bind" (see bend).
binder: O.E. bindere "one who binds" (see bind). Of various things that bind, from early 16c. Bindery first recorded 1810, Amer.Eng.
binding: mid-13c., action of bind (q.v.). Meaning "thing that binds" is from c.1300; "state of being bound" is from late 14c. Meaning "covering of a book" is recorded from 1640s.
bindle: "tramp's bundle," c.1900, perhaps from bundle or Scot. dial. bindle "cord or rope to bind things."
bine: "flexible shoot of a shrub," 1807, from dial. form of bind (n.).
bing: "heap or pile," 1510s, from O.N. bingr "heap." Also used from early 14c. as a word for bin, perhaps from notion of "place where things are piled."
binge: 1854, "drinking bout," also (v.) "drink heavily, soak up alcohol;" dialectal use of binge "soak" (a wooden vessel). Noted originally as a Northampton dialect word. Sense extended c. World War I to include eating as well as drinking.
bingo: 1936, as a lotto-like game of chance; many theories about its origin, none satisfying; the most likely is bingo! as an exclamation of sudden realization or surprise (attested from 1927). Uncertain connection to the slang word for "brandy" (1699); attested as "liquor" in Amer.Eng., 1861. Thomas Chandler Haliburton ("Sam Slick") in "The Americans at Home" (1854) recounts a story of a drinking game in which the children's song about the farmer's dog was sung and when it came time to spell out the name, every participant had to take a letter in turn, and anyone who missed or flubbed had to drink.
binnacle: "wooden box for a ship's compass," c.1750, corruption of bittacle (1622), which is probably from Sp. bitacula or Port. bitacola, both from L. habitaculum, from habitare "to inhabit (see habit).