Online Etymology Dictionary

bagpipe: late 14c., from bag + pipe; originally a favorite instrument in England as well as the Celtic lands, but by 1912 English army officers' slang for it was agony bags.
baguette: 1727, a type of architectural ornament, from Fr. baguette (16c.), from It. bacchetta, lit. "a small rod," dim. of bacchio "rod," from L. baculum "a stick" (see bacillus). Meaning "a diamond cut long" is from 1926; that of "a long, thin loaf of French bread" is from 1958.
bah: exclamation of contempt, 1817, perhaps c.1600, probably from Fr. bah, O.Fr. ba, expressing surprise, scorn, dismay. Perhaps simply a natural exclamation in such situations; cf. Gk. babai!, an exclamation of surprise.
Baha'i: 1889, mystical, tolerant Iranian religion founded by a Mirza Ali Mohammed ibn Radhik, Shiraz merchant executed for heresy in 1850, and named for his leading disciple, Baha Allah (Pers. "splendor of God;" ultimately from Arabic). It also is sometimes called Babism, after the name taken by the founder, Bab-ed-Din, "gate of the faith."
Bahamas: islands discovered by Columbus in 1492, settled by English in 1648, long after the native population had been wiped out by disease or carried off into slavery; the name is said to be from Sp. baja mar "low sea," in ref. to the shallow water here, but more likely represents a local name, Guanahani, whose origin had been lost and whose meaning has been forgotten.
bail (n.1): "bond money," late 15c., a sense that developed from that of "temporary release from jail" (mid-15c.), and that from earlier meaning "captivity, custody" (mid-13c.). From O.Fr. baillier "to control, to guard, deliver" (12c.), from L. bajulare "to bear a burden," from bajulus "porter," of unknown origin.
bail (v.): 1610s, "to dip water out of," from baile (n.) "small bucket" (early 14c.), from O.Fr. baille "bucket, pail," from M.L. *bajula (aquae), lit. "porter of water," from L. bajulare "to bear a burden" (see bail (n.1)). To bail out "leave suddenly" (intrans.) is recorded from 1930, originally of airplane pilots. As a noun, sometimes bailout, it dates from 1955.
bail (n.2): "horizontal piece of wood in a cricket wicket," c.1742, originally "any cross bar" (1570s), probably identical with M.Fr. bail "horizontal piece of wood affixed on two stakes," and with English bail "palisade wall, outer wall of a castle" (see bailey).
bailey: "wall enclosing an outer court," c.1300, baylle, variant of bail, from O.Fr. bail "stake, pallisade, brace," of unknown origin, perhaps ultimately connected to L. bacula "sticks," on notion of "stakes, palisade fence." Old Bailey, seat of Central Criminal Court in London, was so called because it stood within the ancient bailey of the city wall. The surname Bailey usually is from O.Fr. bailli, a later form of baillif (q.v.).
bailiff: mid-13c., from O.Fr. baillif (12c., nom. baillis) "administrative official, deputy," from V.L. *bajulivus "official in charge of a castle," from L. bajulus "porter." Used in M.E. of a public administrator of a district, a chief officer of a Hundred, or an officer under a sheriff.
bailiwick: "district of a bailiff," mid-15c., baillifwik, from bailiff (q.v.) + O.E. wic "village" (see wick (2)). Figurative sense of "one's natural or proper sphere" is first recorded 1843.
bairn: "child" (of any age), O.E. bearn "child, son, descendant," probably related to beran ("bear (v.), carry, give birth;" see bear (v.)). Not chiefly Scottish.
bait (n.): "food put on a hook or trap to lure prey," c.1300, from O.N. beita "food," related to O.N. beit "pasture," O.E. bat "food," lit. "to cause to bite" (see bait (v.)). Figurative sense "anything used as a lure" is from c.1400. The verb in this sense, "to put food on a hook or in a trap," is attested from c.1300, probably from the noun.
bait (v.): "to torment or goad (someone unable to escape, and to take pleasure in it)," c.1200, beyten, a figurative use from the literal sense of "to set dogs on," from the medieval entertainment of setting dogs on some ferocious animal to bite and worry it (the literal use is attested from c.1300); from O.N. beita "to cause to bite," from P.Gmc. *baitan (cf. O.E. bætan "to cause to bite," O.H.G. beizzen "to bait," M.H.G. beiz "hunting," Ger. beizen "to hawk, to cauterize, etch"), causative of *bitan (see bite); the causative word forked into the two meanings of "harass" and "food offered."
baited: c.1600, "furnished with bait," from bait (n.). Hence, in a figurative sense, "exciting, alluring" (c.1650). For bated breath see bate (1).
baize: coarse woollen fabric, 1570s, bayse, from Fr. baies, fem. pl. of adj. bai "bay-colored," from L. badius "chestnut-colored" (see bay (4)).
Baja: in place names, Sp., lit. "lower," either in elevation or geography; cf. Baja California.
bake: O.E. bacan "to bake," from P.Gmc. *bakanan (cf. O.N. baka, M.Du. backen, O.H.G. bahhan, Ger. backen), from P.Gmc. *bakan "to bake," from PIE *bheg- "to warm, roast, bake" (cf. Gk. phogein "to roast"), from base *bhe- "to warm."
bakelite: type of plastic widely used early 20c., 1909, from Ger. Bakelit, named for Belgian-born physicist Leo Baekeland (1863-1944), who invented it.
baker: O.E. bæcere, from bacan "to bake" (see bake). Baker's dozen "thirteen" is from 1590s.
"These dealers [hucksters] ... on purchasing their bread from the bakers, were privileged by law to receive thirteen batches for twelve, and this would seem to have been the extent of their profits. Hence the expression, still in use, 'A baker's dozen.' " [H.T. Riley, "Liber Albus," 1859]
bakery: c.1820, "place for making bread" (see bake), replacing earlier bakehouse; as "shop where baked goods are sold" it was noted as an Americanism by British travelers from c.1830.
baklava: 1650s, from Turkish.
baksheesh: 1620s, in India, Egypt, etc., "a tip," from Pers. bakhshish, lit. "gift," from verb bakhshidan "to give" (also "to forgive"), from PIE base *bhag- "to share out, apportion, distribute" (see -phagous).
balaclava: "woolen head covering," especially worn by soldiers, evidently named for village near Sebastopol, Russia, site of a battle Oct. 25, 1854, in the Crimean War. But the term (originally Balaclava helmet) does not appear before 1900 and seems to have come into use in the Boer War. The British troops seem to have suffered from the cold in the Crimean War, and the usage might be a remembrance of that conflict. The town name (Balaklava) often is said to be from Turkish, but is perhaps folk-etymologized from a Gk. original Palakion.
balalaika: stringed instrument with a triangular body, 1788, from Russian balalaika, said to be related to balabolit' "to chatter, babble," an imitative word.
balance: late 13c., "apparatus for weighing," from O.Fr. balance (12c.) "balance, scales for weighing," also in the figurative sense; from M.L. bilancia, from L.L. bilanx (acc. bilancem), from L. (libra) bilanx "(scale) having two pans," possibly from L. bis "twice" + lanx "dish, plate, scale of a balance." The accounting sense is from 1580s; the meaning "general harmony between parts" is from 1732; sense of "physical equipoise" is from 1660s. The verb is attested from 1570s. Balance of power in the geopolitical sense is from 1701; balanced meal, diet, etc. is from 1908.
balcony: 1610s, from It. balcone, from balco "scaffold" (from Langobardic *balko- "beam," cf. O.E. balca "beam, ridge;" see balk) + It. augmentative suffix -one. Till c.1825, regularly accented on the second syllable.
bald: c.1300, ballede, probably, with M.E. -ede adjectival suffix, from Celt. bal "white patch, blaze" especially on the head of a horse or other animal (from PIE base *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, gleam;" see bleach). Cf., from the same root, Skt. bhalam "brightness, forehead," Gk. phalos "white," L. fulcia "coot" (so called for the white patch on its head), Alb. bale "forehead." Bald eagle first attested 1680s.
balderdash: 1590s, of unknown origin; originally a jumbled mix of liquors (milk and beer, beer and wine, etc.), transferred 1670s to "senseless jumble of words." From dash; first element perhaps cognate with Dan. balder "noise, clatter" (cf. boulder).
baldric: c.1300, "belt worn over the shoulder," from O.Fr. baldre (Mod.Fr. baudrier "shoulder-belt"), which is probably from L. balteus "belt," said by Varro to be of Etruscan origin. The English word perhaps influenced by M.H.G. balderich (which is itself from the Old French).
Baldwin: masc. proper name, from O.Fr. Baldoin (Fr. Baudouin), from a Gmc. source, cf. O.H.G. Baldawin, lit. "bold friend," from bald "bold" (see bold) + wini "friend" (see win). A popular Flemish name, common in England before and after the Conquest.
bale: "large bundle or package," early 14c., from O.Fr. bale "rolled-up bundle," from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. balla "ball"), from P.Gmc. *ball-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole).
baleen: early 14c., "whalebone," from O.Fr. balaine (12c.) "whale, whalebone," from L. ballaena, from Gk. phallaina "whale" (apparently related to phallos "swollen penis," probably because of a whale's shape), from PIE base *bhel- (2) "to swell" (see bole). Klein writes that the Greek to Latin transition was "through the medium of the Illyrian language, a fact which explains the transition of Gk. -ph- into L. -b- (instead of -p-)."
baleful: O.E. bealu-full, from bealu "harm, injury, ruin, evil, mischief, wickedness, a noxious thing," from P.Gmc. *balwom (cf. O.S. balu, O.Fris. balu "evil," O.H.G. balo "destruction," O.N. bol, Gothic balwjan "to torment"), from PIE base *bheleu- "to beat." During Anglo-Saxon times, in poetic use only (e.g. bealubenn "mortal wound," bealuðonc "evil thought"), and for long it was extinct, but revived by modern romantic poets.
balk: O.E. balca "ridge, bank," from or influenced by O.N. balkr "ridge of land," especially between two plowed furrows, both from P.Gmc. *balkan-, *belkan- (cf. O.S. balko, Dan. bjelke, O.Fris. balka, O.H.G. balcho, Ger. Balken "beam, rafter"), from PIE *bhelg- "beam, plank" (cf. L. fulcire "to prop up, support," fulcrum "bedpost;" Lith. balziena "cross-bar;" and possibly Gk. phalanx "trunk, log, line of battle"). Modern senses are figurative, either representing the balk as a hindrance or obstruction (e.g., of horses, "to stop short before an obstacle," recorded from late 15c.), or from the verb sense of "to miss or omit intentionally" (attested by late 15c.) as a lazy or incompetent plowman would in making balks. Baseball sense is first attested 1845. Related: Balky (1847).
Balkanize: 1920, first used in reference to the Baltic states, on the model of what had happened in the Balkans; said to have been coined by Eng. editor James Louis Garvin (1868-1947), but A.J. Toynbee (1922) credited it to "German Socialists" describing the results of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Either way, the reference is to the political situation in the Balkans c.1878-1913, when the European section of the Ottoman Empire split up into small, warring nations. Balkanized and Balkanization both also are from 1920.
Balkans: probably from Turkic balkan "mountain."
ball (1): "round object," O.E., from O.N. bollr "ball," from P.Gmc. *balluz (cf. O.H.G. ballo, Ger. Ball), from PIE base *bhel- (2) "to swell" (see bole). The verb meaning "copulate" is first recorded 1940s in jazz slang. To be on the ball is 1912, from sports. Ball-point pen first recorded 1947. Ball of fire when first recorded in 1821 referred to "a glass of brandy;" as "spectacularly successful striver" it is c.1900. Ball and chain as a prisoner's restraint is recorded from 1835; as "one's wife," early 1920s.
ball (2): "dancing party," 1630s, from Fr., from O.Fr. baller "to dance," from L.L. ballare "to dance," from Gk. ballizein "to dance, jump about" (see ballistics). Hence, "very enjoyable time," 1945, Amer.Eng. slang, perhaps back to 1930s in black slang.
ballad: late 15c., from Fr. ballade "dancing song" (13c.), from O.Prov. ballada "(poem for a) dance," from balar "to dance," from L.L. ballare "to dance" (see ball (2)).
ballade: early 14c., an earlier borrowing of ballad (q.v.) with a specific metrical sense. Technically, a poem consisting of one or more triplets of seven- (later eight-) lined stanzas, each ending with the same line as the refrain, usually with an envoy. Popularized 19c. as a type of musical composition by Frédéric Chopin. Ballade royal is recorded from late 15c.
Ballard: surname, attested from 1196, probably meaning "bald head;" cf. Wyclif "Stye up, ballard," where Coverdale translates "Come vp here thou balde heade" [2 Kg.2:23-24, where God kills 42 children for making fun of Elijah's lack of hair.]
ballast: "heavy material used to steady a ship," 1520s, from M.E. bar "bare" (in this case "mere") + last "a load, burden," or borrowed from identical terms in North Sea Gmc. and Scand. (cf. O.Dan. barlast, 14c.). Du. balg-last "ballast," lit. "belly-load," is a folk-etymology corruption.
ballerina: 1792, from It., lit. "dancing girl," fem. of ballerino "dancer," from ballo "a dance" (see ball (2)). The It. plural form ballerine formerly sometimes was used in Eng.
ballet: 1660s, from Fr. ballette from It. balletto, dim. of ballo "a dance" (see ball (2)).
ballista: "ancient war engine," 1590s, from L. ballista, lit. "a throwing machine," from Gk. ballein "to throw" (see ballistics).
ballistic: 1775, ult. from Gk. ballein "to throw" (see ballistics). Of rockets or missiles, from 1949. Ballistic missile first attested 1954, attained extreme heights, hence figurative expression go ballistic (1981) "become irrationally angry."
ballistics: 1753, from L. ballista "ancient military machine for hurling stones," from Gk. ballistes, from ballein "to throw, to throw so as to hit," also in a looser sense, "to put, place, lay;" from PIE base *gwele- "to throw, reach," in extended senses "to pierce" (cf. Skt. apa-gurya "swinging," balbaliti "whirls, twirls;" Gk. bole "a throw, beam, ray," belemnon "dart, javelin," belone "needle"). Here, too, probably belongs Gk. ballizein "to dance," lit. "to throw one's body," ancient Gk. dancing being highly athletic.
ballocks: "testicles," from O.E. beallucas, plural dim. of balle (see ball (1)).
ballon: "smoothness in dancing, lightness of step," 1830, from Fr., lit. "balloon" (see balloon).