baby (English)

Where does "baby" come from?

English baby comes from Middle English baby/babie, a diminutive form built from babe plus the endearing suffix -y/-ie. Babe itself is older, going back through Middle English to an Old English form like baba, and likely arose as a nursery word, perhaps imitating baby talk. Over time, the word came to mean not just a very young child, but also a young animal, a term of affection, and even a newer or less experienced person.

Full etymology tree

baby (English), 'A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.'
- inherited from baby (Middle English), 'A child or baby.'
  - derived from babe (Middle English), 'baby, infant'
    - inherited from *baba (Old English), 'a male child'
      - inherited from *babô (Proto-Germanic)
        derived from *bō- (Proto-Germanic), 'A stem meaning father, brother, close male relation.'
        inherited from *bʰā- (Proto-Indo-European)
        inherited from *bʰāt- (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived from *ba- (Proto-Germanic)
    - inherited from baban (Old English)
      - inherited from *babô (Proto-Germanic)
        derived from *bō- (Proto-Germanic), 'A stem meaning father, brother, close male relation.'
        inherited from *bʰā- (Proto-Indo-European)
        inherited from *bʰāt- (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived from *ba- (Proto-Germanic)
  - suffix -y (Middle English), 'Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by being appended to a noun.'
    - inherited from *-iġ (Old English), '-y; forms adjectives from nouns and verbs'

Direct ancestors

Updated March 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris