bode
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /bəʊd/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /boʊd/
- Rhymes: -əʊd
- Homophone: bowed (in one sense)
Etymology 1
Verb from Middle English boden, from Old English bodian (“announce, foretell”), from Proto-Germanic *budōną (“to proclaim, announce, lere, instruct”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, perceive fully”). See bid.
Noun from Middle English bod, from Old English bod, from Proto-Germanic *budą (“message, offer”).
Since 1740 also a shortening of forebode.
Verb
bode (third-person singular simple present bodes, present participle boding, simple past and past participle boded)
- (transitive, intransitive) To indicate by signs, as future events; to be an omen of; to portend or foretell.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
- O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound,
And crown what I profess with kind event
If I speak true; if hollowly invert
What best is boded me to mischief: I,
Beyond all limit of what else i' th' world,
Do love, prize, honour you.
- (intransitive, followed by "well", "ill", "no good", etc.) To betoken or augur something good or bad that will happen in the future.
- 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
- Whatever now / The omen prove, it boded well to you.
- 2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 25:
- Recent investment by Sellafield and DRS in new wagons and more environmentally friendly traction bodes well for the future of one of the UK's last remaining internal rail networks and for the dedicated team who operate and maintain it.
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English bod, from Old English bod (“a bidding”), from Proto-Germanic *budą (“a bidding, offer”).
Cognate with Swedish bud, Dutch bod, Icelandic boð, Faroese boð, Norwegian Nynorsk bod, Norwegian Bokmål bud. Compare also Old Saxon gibod, German Gebot. See bid.
Noun
bode (plural bodes)
- (obsolete or dialect) A bid; an offer.
- 1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], Tales of the Crusaders. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:
- What bode ye shall to your lord bear?
Etymology 3
From Middle English bode, from Old English boda (“messenger, forerunner”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *budô (“messenger”). Cognate with Dutch bode (“messenger, harbinger”), German Bote (“messenger”).
Noun
bode (plural bodes)
- A herald; a messenger.
- 1848, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter III, in Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings; […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, book II (Lanfranc the Scholar), page 138:
- [T]he fame of the Duke's coming was sent abroad by the bodes or messengers, despatched to prepare the towns through which he was to pass for an arrival sooner than expected, […]
Etymology 4
From Middle English bod, bode, bade, baide, partially a clipping of Middle English abod (“a stopping”), and partially continuing Old English bād (“a waiting, expectation”), from Proto-West Germanic *baidu, from Proto-Germanic *baidō.
Etymology 5
Inflected form of bide.
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “bode”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Chichewa
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɓó.ɗe/
Czech
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈbodɛ]
- Rhymes: -odɛ
- Hyphenation: bo‧de
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈboːdə/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: bo‧de
- Rhymes: -oːdə
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch bōde, from Old Dutch bodo, from Proto-Germanic *budô.
Noun
Derived terms
- bodes
- bodin
- bodenbrood
- bodenkamer
- bodenloon
- dienstbode
- geluksbode
- gerechtsbode
- ijlbode
- jobsbode
- renbode
- snelbode
- onheilsbode
- postbode
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Further reading
- M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]
Galician
Etymology
Unknown. Probably from a pre-Roman substrate of Iberia.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɔðe̝/
Derived terms
- bode seixo
References
- “bode” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “bode” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “bode” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “bode” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “bode” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Laboya
References
- Rina, A. Dj., Kabba, John Lado B. (2011) “bode”, in Kamus Bahasa Lamboya, Kabupaten Sumba Bakat [Dictionary of Lamboya Language, West Sumba Regency], Waikabubak: Dinas Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata, Kabupaten Sumba Bakat, page 10
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch bodo, from Proto-Germanic *budô.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɔːdə/
Inflection
Weak masculine | ||
---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | bōde | bōden |
Accusative | bōde | bōden |
Genitive | bōden | bōden |
Dative | bōde | bōden |
Descendants
- Dutch: bode
Further reading
- “bode (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “bode (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English boda.
Noun
bode
- messenger
- omen
- c. 1380s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parliament of Fowles
- The oule eek, that of dethe the bode bringeth.
- c. 1380s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parliament of Fowles
Descendants
- English: bode
Norwegian Nynorsk
Portuguese

Etymology
Unknown. Probably from a pre-Roman substrate of Iberia. Or, possibly of Germanic origin, borrowed through Spanish bode.[1]
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈbɔ.d͡ʒi/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈbɔ.de/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈbɔ.dɨ/ [ˈbɔ.ðɨ]
- (Northeast Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈbɔ.di/
- Hyphenation: bo‧de
Noun
bode m (plural bodes, feminine cabra, feminine plural cabras)
- goat buck, billy goat
- Synonym: cabrão
Derived terms
References
- “bode” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
Spanish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Spanish bote, of Germanic origin, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz, see also German Bock.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbode/ [ˈbo.ð̞e]
- Rhymes: -ode
- Syllabification: bo‧de
Further reading
- “bode”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN