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Origin and history of beach

beach(n.)

1530s, "loose, water-worn pebbles of the seashore," probably from a dialectal survival of Old English bece, bece "stream," according to Barnhart from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (source also of Dutch beek, German Bach, Swedish bäck "stream, brook, creek"), perhaps from PIE root *bhog- indicating flowing water.

It was extended to loose, pebbly shores (1590s), then in 17c. to "shore of the sea" generally, regardless of composition, especially the part of any shore between high and low tide marks. According to OED (1989) in dialect around Sussex and Kent beach still has the meaning "pebbles worn by the waves." French grève shows the same evolution.

Beach ball is recorded by 1940; beach bum by 1950.

beach(v.)

"to haul or run up on a beach," 1814, from beach (n.). Related: Beached; beaching.

also from 1814

Entries linking to beach

beach-comber(n.)

1840, from beach (n.) + agent noun from comb (v.). Century Dictionary (1889) defines it as "A seafaring man generally, of vagrant and drunken habits, who idles about the wharves of seaports; used most frequently in countries bordering on the Pacific ocean." The original reference (Dana, "Two Years Before the Mast") used the word to describe the life of "half of the Americans and English who are adrift along the coasts of the Pacific and its islands."

It also could mean "a long, rolling wave."

beach-front(n.)

also beachfront, "part of a town fronting and facing the sea, seashore of a town," American English, 1876, the beach front (in reference to Galveston); see beach (n.) + front (n.). As an adjective by 1889, in reference to Atlantic City.

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Trends of beach

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

strand
"shore, beach, land abutting a body of water," Middle English stronde, from Old English strand "sea-shore," from Proto-Germanic *strandaz (source also of Danish and Swedish strand "beach, shore, strand," Old Norse strönd "border, edge, shore," Old Frisian strond, Middle Dutch str
littoral
1650s, from Latin littoralis "of or belonging to the seashore," from litus (genitive litoris) "seashore, coast, seaside, beach...
seaside
Middle English "seaside, seashore" words included sees koste (mid-14c.), sewarth (Old English sæwaroþ, from wār "seashore, beach...
flip-flop
also flip flop, "plastic thong beach sandal," by 1970, imitative of the sound of walking in them....
gremlin
Surfer slang for "young surfer, beach trouble-maker" is from 1961 (short form gremmie by 1962)....
buddy
[Review of Ned Schuyler's 5 O'Clock Club, Miami Beach, Fla., Billboard, Nov. 12, 1949] Buddy system is attested from 1920...
racer
["Extract from a letter from Samuel Beach, dated Whiting, July 24, 1795," in appendix to Samuel Williams, "The Natural and...
plage
"a region, district, land, country," late 14c., from Old French plage (13c.) and directly from Late Latin plagia "a plain, shore," noun use of adjective (plagia regio), from plaga "a region, stretch of country" (see pelagic). From early 15c. as "one of the four cardinal direction
formation
late 14c., "vital force in plants and animals;" early 15c., "act of creating or making," from Old French formacion "formation, fashioning, creation" (12c.) or directly from Latin formationem (nominative formatio) "a forming, shaping," noun of action or condition from past-partici
land
Old English lond, land, "ground, soil," also "definite portion of the earth's surface, home region of a person or a people, territory marked by political boundaries," from Proto-Germanic *landja- (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian Dutch, Gothic land, German Land), perhaps fro

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Dictionary entries near beach
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