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Origin and history of bead

bead(n.)

mid-14c., bede, "prayer bead," from Old English gebed "prayer," with intensive or collective prefix *ge- + Proto-Germanic *bidam "entreaty." This reconstructed word is also the source of Middle Dutch bede, Old High German beta, German bitte, Gothic bida "prayer, request," which according to Watkins is from a PIE root *gwhedh- "to ask, pray."

The shift in meaning in English comes via rosary beads threaded on a string to count prayers, and in verbal phrases bid one's beads, count one's beads, etc. The German cognate Bitte is the usual word for the conversational request "please." Compare Spanish cuentas "the beads of a rosary," from contar "to count."

The word is also related to bid (Old English biddan) and Gothic bidjan "to ask, pray." The sense in Modern English was further transferred to other small globular bodies, such as "drop of liquid" (1590s), "small knob forming front sight of a gun" (1831, Kentucky slang); hence draw a bead on "take aim at," 1841, U.S. colloquial.

bead(v.)

1570s, "adorn with beads," from bead (n.). The meaning "string like beads" is from 1819. The intransitive sense of "form in beads" is by 1873. Related: Beaded; beading.

also from 1570s

Entries linking to bead

bid(v.)

probably an early Middle English mutual influence or confusion of two older words: The sense in bid farewell is from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, beg, pray, beseech; order" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd, past participle beden), from Proto-Germanic *bedjanan "to pray, entreat" (source also of German bitten "to ask," attested in Old High German from 8c., also Old Saxon biddian, Old Frisian bidda "ask, request command," Old Norse biðja, Gothic bidjan "request"). This, according to Kluge and Watkins, is from a PIE root *gwhedh- "to ask, pray" (see bead (n.)).

To bid at an auction, meanwhile, is from Old English beodan "offer, proclaim" (class II strong verb; past tense bead, past participle boden), from Proto-Germanic *beudanan "to stretch out, reach out, offer, present," (source also of German bieten "to offer," Old High German biatan, also Old Saxon biodan, Old Frisian biada, Old Norse bjoða, Gothic anabiudan "to command"). This is (with a shift of meaning) from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware" (source also of bode (v.)).

beadsman(n.)

"one who prays for another's benefit," early 13c.; see bead (n.) + man (n.). Often a resident of a hospital or almshouse who was expected to pray for the founders and benefactors. Related: Beadswoman.

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Trends of bead

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

More to explore

drop
Middle English drope, from Old English dropa "a small, spherical mass of liquid," from Proto-Germanic *drupon (source also of Old Saxon dropo, Old Norse dropi, Dutch drop, Old High German tropfo, German Tropfen (n.)); see drop (v.). Sense of "minute quantity of anything, least po
pearl
"nacreous mass formed in the shell of a bivalve mollusk as a result of irritation caused by some foreign body," early 14c., perle (mid-13c. as a surname), from Old French perle (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin perla (mid-13c.), which is of unknown origin. Perhaps from Vulg
gaud
early 15c., "a bauble, trinket," earlier "a large, ornamental bead in a rosary" (mid-14c.), probably mistakenly taken as..."large, ornamental rosary bead" (early 14c., in plural form gaudeez), later "ornamentation" generally (late 14c.), which...
gout
joint disease, c. 1200, from Old French gote "a drop, bead; the gout, rheumatism" (10c., Modern French goutte), from Latin...
gaudy
"large, ornamental bead in a rosary" (early 14c.) via the noun gaud + -y (2.)....
Margaret
He adds, "The older view" derives it from Sanskrit manjari "pearl; flowering bead," "but the late and rare occurrence of...
prod
1530s, "to poke with a stick," of uncertain origin; possibly [Barnhart, Century Dictionary] a variant of brod, from Middle English brodden "to goad," from Old Norse broddr "shaft, spike" (see brad), or perhaps imitative [OED]. Compare dialectal prog "pointed instrument for poking
bugle
"brass musical instrument," mid-14c., abbreviation of buglehorn "musical horn, hunting horn" (c. 1300), from Old French bugle "(musical) horn," also "wild ox, buffalo," from Latin buculus "heifer, young ox," diminutive of bos "ox, cow" (from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow"). Midd
bulge
c. 1200, "a wallet, leather bag," from Old French bouge, boulge "wallet, pouch, leather bag," or directly from Latin bulga "leather sack," from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell," extended form of root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Transferred sense of "a swelling, a rounded protuberance" is
form
c. 1200, forme, fourme, "semblance, image, likeness," from Old French forme, fourme, "physical form, appearance; pleasing looks; shape, image; way, manner" (12c.), from Latin forma "form, contour, figure, shape; appearance, looks; a fine form, beauty; an outline, a model, pattern

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