Beekeeper / Apiarist
A bee has always been a bee, or should I say, a bhei? That is, the word bee has its origins in Proto-Indo-European (PIE) bhei (bee), a term that is from four to six thousand years old. Not as old as bees themselves though. PIE bhei is the root of Proto-Germanic bion which is the source of Old Norse by, Old High German bia, Middle Dutch bie, and Old English beo. Speaking scientifically, a bee is a stinging insect of the genus apis, from which comes apiary and apiarist.
The word keeper comes to English around 1300 as ‘one who has charge of some person or thing’, from Old English cepan (to seize, hold, seek after) and Proto-Germanic kopjan, a word of uncertain origin.
The word apiary, from the 1650s, comes from Latin apiarium (bee-house, beehive) and apis (bee), “a mystery word unrelated to any similar words in other Indo-European languages” (Online Etymological Dictionary). The word apiarist, or beekeeper, is from 1816.
The word keeper comes to English around 1300 as ‘one who has charge of some person or thing’, from Old English cepan (to seize, hold, seek after) and Proto-Germanic kopjan, a word of uncertain origin.
The word apiary, from the 1650s, comes from Latin apiarium (bee-house, beehive) and apis (bee), “a mystery word unrelated to any similar words in other Indo-European languages” (Online Etymological Dictionary). The word apiarist, or beekeeper, is from 1816.
No comments have been added yet.
