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Origin and history of beet

beet(n.)

plant growing wild in northern Europe, cultivated for use of its succulent root as food and for sugar extraction, Old English bete "beet, beetroot," from Latin beta, which is said to be of Celtic origin. Common in Old English, then lost till c. 1400. Still usually spoken of in plural in U.S. A general West Germanic borrowing, cognates: Old Frisian bete, Middle Dutch bete, Old High German bieza, German Beete.

Entries linking to beet

beet-root(n.)

"the root of the beet plant," 1570s, from beet (n.) + root (n.).

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    Trends of beet

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

    More to explore

    bet
    Perhaps it is a shortening of abet or else from obsolete beet "to make good" (related to better), if the original notion...
    pace
    [report on Oxnard, Calif., beet harvesting in "The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer," May 13, 1899] ...
    abet
    late 14c., "urge on, incite" (implied in abetting), from Old French abeter "to bait, to harass with dogs," literally "to cause to bite," from a- "to" (see ad-) + beter "to bait." This verb is probably from Frankish or some other Germanic source (perhaps Low Franconian betan "inci
    beat
    Old English beatan "inflict blows on, strike repeatedly, thrash" (class VII strong verb; past tense beot, past participle beaten), from Proto-Germanic *bautan (source also of Old Norse bauta, Old High German bozan "to beat"), from PIE root *bhau- "to strike." Past tense form beat
    beta
    second letter of the Greek alphabet, c. 1300, from Greek, from Hebrew/Phoenician beth (see alphabet); used to designate the second of many things. Beta radiation is from 1899 (Rutherford). Beta particle is attested from 1904. Beta male, pejorative term for a risk-avoidant, non-co
    vegetable
    early 15c., "capable of life or growth; growing, vigorous;" also "neither animal nor mineral, of the plant kingdom, living and growing as a plant," from Old French vegetable "living, fit to live," and directly from Medieval Latin vegetabilis "growing, flourishing," from Late Lati
    common
    c. 1300, "belonging to all, owned or used jointly, general, of a public nature or character," from Old French comun "common, general, free, open, public" (9c., Modern French commun), from Latin communis "in common, public, shared by all or many; general, not specific; familiar, n
    plunder
    "take goods or valuable forcibly from, take by pillage or open force," 1630s, from German plündern, from Middle High German plunderen "to plunder," originally "to take away household furniture," from plunder (n.) "household goods, clothes," also "lumber, baggage" (14c.; compare M
    patent
    late 14c., "open letter or official document from some authority granting permission to do something; a licence granting an office, right, title, etc.," shortened from Anglo-French lettre patent (also in Medieval Latin litteræ patentes), literally "open letter" (late 13c.), from
    forlorn
    mid-12c., forloren "disgraced, depraved," past participle of obsolete forlesan "be deprived of, lose, abandon," from Old English forleosan "to lose, abandon, let go; destroy, ruin," from for- "completely" + leosan "to lose" (from Proto-Germanic *lausa-, from PIE root *leu- "to lo

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    Dictionary entries near beet
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