bay

{{11}}bay (adj.) "reddish-brown," usually of horses, mid-14c., from Anglo-Fr. bai (13c.), O.Fr. bai, from L. badius "chestnut-brown" (used only of horses), from PIE *badyo- "yellow, brown" (Cf. O.Ir. buide "yellow"). Also elliptical for a horse of this color.

{{12}}bay (n.¹) "inlet of the sea," c.1400, from O.Fr. baie, L.L. baia (c.640), perhaps ultimately from Iberian bahia.

{{12}}bay (n.²) "opening in a wall," late 14c. (especially bay window, early 15c.), from O.Fr. baee "opening, hole, gulf," noun use of fem. pp. of bayer "to gape, yawn," from M.L. batare "gape," perhaps of imitative origin. Sick-bay "forepart of a ship's main deck used as a hospital" is from 1580s, from the notion of a recessed space.

{{13}}bay (n.³) "howl of a dog," early 14c., earlier "howling chorus raised (by hounds) when in contact with the hunted animal," c.1300, from O.Fr. bayer, from PIE root *bai- echoic of howling (Cf. Gk. bauzein, L. baubari "to bark," English bow-wow; Cf. also bawl). From the hunting usage comes the transferred sense of "final encounter," and thence, on the notion of putting up an effective defense, AT BAY (Cf. at bay). As a verb, "to bark or howl (at)," from late 14c. Related: Bayed; baying.

{{14}}bay (n.⁴) laurel shrub (Laurus nobilis, source of the bay leaf), late 14c., originally only of the berry, from O.Fr. baie (12c.) "berry, seed," from L. baca "berry." Extension to the shrub itself is from 1520s. The leaves or sprigs were woven as wreaths for conquerors or poets. Bayberry first recorded 1570s, after the original sense had shifted.