entry
bid
/bɪd/Offer, command, invitation, or attempt
From Proto-Indo-European gʷʰedʰ (To ask or pray) + Proto-Indo-European bʰewdʰ (To be awake).
from Proto-Germanic *bedjanan "to pray, entreat" (source also of German bitten "to ask," attested in Old High German
from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, beg, pray, beseech; order" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd , past...
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English bidden
from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware" (source also of bode (v.)).
from Proto-Germanic *beudanan "to stretch out, reach out, offer, present," (source also of German bieten "to offer,"...
+1 more sourcefrom Old English beodan "offer, proclaim" (class II strong verb; past tense bead , past participle boden )
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English beden
from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, beg, pray, beseech; order" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd , past...
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Proto-Germanic *bedjanan "to pray, entreat" (source also of German bitten "to ask," attested in Old High German
from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, beg, pray, beseech; order" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd , past...
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English bidden
from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware" (source also of bode (v.)).
from Proto-Germanic *beudanan "to stretch out, reach out, offer, present," (source also of German bieten "to offer,"...
+1 more sourcefrom Old English beodan "offer, proclaim" (class II strong verb; past tense bead , past participle boden )
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English beden
from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, beg, pray, beseech; order" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd , past...
+1 more sourceEnglish inherited two remarkably similar-looking verbs and eventually let them collide. One, Old English biddan, was the language of kneeling: you asked, begged, prayed, or issued an order; the other, bēodan, involved stretching something out—an offer, an announcement, or a command sent into the room. By the Middle English period, these streams had blurred into bid, which is why the same short word can describe a whispered plea, a monarch’s command, and someone raising a paddle at an auction. The auction sense is especially revealing: a bidder is literally putting an offer forward, while a person who bids farewell is still performing the older act of saying or offering words. The family resemblance survives across Germanic languages—German bitten means “ask,” while bieten means “offer”—so English’s tiny bid is really a linguistic crossroads where pleading and presenting shake hands.
The Story
English inherited two remarkably similar-looking verbs and eventually let them collide. One, Old English biddan, was the language of kneeling: you asked, begged, prayed, or issued an order; the other, bēodan, involved stretching something out—an offer, an announcement, or a command sent into the room. By the Middle English period, these streams had blurred into bid, which is why the same short word can describe a whispered plea, a monarch’s command, and someone raising a paddle at an auction. The auction sense is especially revealing: a bidder is literally putting an offer forward, while a person who bids farewell is still performing the older act of saying or offering words. The family resemblance survives across Germanic languages—German bitten means “ask,” while bieten means “offer”—so English’s tiny bid is really a linguistic crossroads where pleading and presenting shake hands.
Modern Usage
In slang, a prison sentence; in Philadelphia slang, a funny person
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries for “bid”
Kin & Kindred
From 'gʷʰedʰ'·To ask or pray
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'bʰewdʰ'·To be awake, aware, or make aware
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary