Etymology
1. O.E.
bitan (class I strong verb; past tense
bat, pp.
biten), from P.Gmc.
*bitan (O.Fris.
bita, M.Du.
biten, Ger.
beissen, Goth.
beitan), from PIE base
*bheid- "to split, crack" (see fissure).
Frostbitten is attested from 1552. To
bite the bullet is 1700s military slang, from old medical custom of having the patient bite a bullet during an operation to divert attention from pain and reduce screaming. To
bite (one's) tongue "refrain from speaking" is 1593. To
bite the dust "die" is 1750. To
bite off more than one can chew (c.1880) is U.S. slang, from plug tobacco.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd-
4. Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydt
5. Proto-Germanic *bītaną
6. Proto-West Germanic *bītan
7. Old English bītan
8. Middle English biten
9. English bite
10. From Middle English biten, from Old English bītan (“bite”), from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“split”).
11. Cognates include Saterland Frisian biete (“bite”), West Frisian bite (“bite”), Dutch bijten (“bite”), German Low German bieten (“bite”), German beißen, beissen (“bite”), Danish bide (“bite”), Swedish bita (“bite”), Norwegian Bokmål bite (“bite”), Norwegian Nynorsk bita (“bite”), Faroese and Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”). See: Middle English '
biten', Proto-Germanic '
*bītaną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'biete', Dutch '
bijten', German, old spelling '
beißen', Danish '
bide', Swedish '
bita', Norwegian '
bite', Norwegian, nynorsk '
bita', Latin '
findō', Greek, Ancient '
φείδομαι', Sanskrit '
भिद्'.
Verbs referencing "bite"
Danish
bide, German, old spelling
beißen, Norwegian, nynorsk
bita, Old Norse
bíta, Low Saxon bieten, Sranan
beti, Czech
bít, Wymysorys
bajsa, Latvian
biedēt, Luxembourgish
bäissen.