Meaning
A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō-redup. Proto-Germanic *babô Proto-West Germanic *babō Old English *baba Middle English babe English babe From Middle English babe, a variant of earlier baban, perhaps from Old English *baba (“boy, child”), from Proto-West Germanic *babō, from Proto-Germanic *babô, reduplicated variant of *ba-, *bō- (“father, brother, close male relation”). cognates and related terms Related to Old Frisian bobba (“child”) (whence North Frisian babbe, babb, babe (“child”)), Old High German Babo (a male forename), see boy. Otherwise, origin obscure. Compare mama, dada, papa. Welsh baban (“baby”), believed by Skeat to be a mutation of maban, a diminutive of mab (“son”), is probably rather a borrowing from English. Cognate also with English bub.
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 32 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-09-06BADEGNO
- 2026-08-18BADEGHN
- 2026-07-04BAEHILT
- 2026-05-26EAKCBIL
- 2026-04-14BALECIY
- 2026-03-03ABCEKLO
- 2025-12-14BVANIEL
- 2025-12-08AZBTIEP
- 2025-12-05ENAMCBI
- 2025-10-12BACEILT
- 2025-09-05ABEJLNY
- 2025-03-31ABOMKCE
+20 earlier appearances in the archive.