betimes etymology

Etymology

• Old English: bī tīman
• Proto-Germanic: *bi tīmai
• Proto-Indo-European: *dʰwih₁-dʰeh₁-mn̥

Meaning

• Early; by the time; in good time
• Soon; quickly

Origin

The word "betimes" is composed of two Old English elements:

• bī: A preposition meaning "by" or "before"
• tīman: A noun meaning "time"

Originally, "betimes" meant "by the time" or "before the time." Over time, the meaning shifted to "early" or "soon."

The Proto-Indo-European root *dʰwih₁-dʰeh₁-mn̥ also gave rise to the words "dusk" and "dawn." This suggests that the concept of "time" was closely associated with the changing light of day in early Indo-European languages.

betimes relate terms

• time

  Etymology Old English tîma time period hour West Germanic tîmon Proto Germanic

• bylaw

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• bygones

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• bystander

  Etymology The word bystander derives from the Middle English term bystandere circa 1

• layer

  Etymology Origin Old English leger meaning a stratum or bed Proto Germanic lagriz m

• relay

  Etymology Old French relais Medieval Latin relaxare to loosen slacken relax M

• baffle

  Etymology Middle English bafel to confuse or bewilder Old French baffler to del

• dwarf

  Etymology The word dwarf comes from the Old Norse word dvergr which is related to t

• gentile

  Etymology The word gentile originates from the Latin word gens which means nation

• errand

  Etymology The word errand comes from the Old English word ærn which means messenge

• woman

  Etymology The word woman comes from the Middle English word womman which in turn com

• indigenous

  Etymology The term indigenous comes from the Latin word indigena which means native

• diaphragm

  Etymology Greek diaphragma meaning wall or partition Meaning A thin dome sha

• bath

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