Online Etymology Dictionary

bose (n.): "to seek for hollows underground by ramming the ground and observing the vibrations," 1929, ultimately from Scottish word boss "hollow, empty" (1510s), earlier a noun meaning "small cask, wine flask" (late 14c.).
bosh (n.): "empty talk, nonsense," 1834, from Turkish, literally "empty." Introduced in "Ayesha," popular romance novel by J.J. Morier (1780-1849).
Bosnia: named for the River Bosna, which is perhaps from an Indo-European root *bhog- "current." As a name or adjective for someone there, Bosnian (1788) is older in English than Bosniac (1836, from Russian Bosnyak).
bosom (n.): Old English bosm "breast; womb; surface; ship's hold," from West Germanic *bosm- (source also of Old Frisian bosm, Old Saxon bosom, Middle Dutch boesem, Dutch boezem, Old High German buosam, German Busen "bosom, breast"), perhaps from PIE root *bhou- "to grow, swell," or *bhaghus "arm" (in which case the primary notion would be "enclosure formed by the breast and the arms"). Narrowed meaning "a woman's breasts" is from 1959; but bosomy "big-breasted" is from 1928. Bosom-friend is attested 1580s; bosom buddy from 1920s.
boson (n.): class of subatomic particles, named for Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974) + subatomic particle suffix -on.
boss (n.1): "overseer," 1640s, American English, from Dutch baas "a master," Middle Dutch baes, of obscure origin. If original sense was "uncle," perhaps it is related to Old High German basa "aunt," but some sources discount this theory. The Dutch form baas is attested in English from 1620s as the standard title of a Dutch ship's captain. The word's popularity in U.S. may reflect egalitarian avoidance of master (n.) as well as the need to distinguish slave from free labor. The slang adjective meaning "excellent" is recorded in 1880s, revived, apparently independently, in teen and jazz slang in 1950s.
boss (n.2): "protuberance, button," c. 1300, from Old French boce "a hump, swelling, tumor" (12c., Modern French bosse), from either Frankish *botija or Vulgar Latin *bottia, both which is of uncertain origin.
boss (v.): 1856, from boss (n.1). Related: Bossed; bossing.
bossa nova: 1962, Brazilian style of music, from Portuguese, literally "new tendency."
bossy (adj.): 1540s, "swelling, projecting and rounded, decorated with bosses" from boss (n.2). Meaning "domineering, fond of ordering people about" is recorded 1882, from boss (n.1) + -y (2). As a common cow name it represents Latin bos "cow" (see cow (n.)).
Boston: U.S. city, 1630, named for town in Lincolnshire, a region from which many settlers came to New England. The name is said to be literally "Botolph's Stone," probably from the name of some Anglo-Saxon landowner (Old English Botwulf). Boston Massacre was March 5, 1770; three civilians killed, two mortally wounded. Card game Boston (1800) is based on the siege of Boston during the American Revolution. The Boston Tea Party (1824) took place on Dec. 16, 1773 (see tea party).
bosun (n.): a mid-19c. respelling to reflect the modern pronunciation of boatswain.
bot (n.): in Internet sense, c. 2000, short for robot. Its modern use has curious affinities with earlier uses, such as "parasitical worm or maggot" (1520s), of unknown origin; and Australian-New Zealand slang "worthless, troublesome person" (World War I-era). The method of minting new slang by clipping the heads off words does not seem to be old or widespread in English. Examples (za from pizza, zels from pretzels, rents from parents) are American English student or teen slang and seem to date back no further than late 1960s.
botanic (adj.): 1650s, from French botanique (17c.) or directly from Medieval Latin botanicus, from Greek botanikos "of herbs," from botane "a plant, grass, pasture, fodder." The Greek words seems to have more to do with pasturage than plants; compare related botamia "pastures, meadows," boter "herdsman," boton "grazing beast."
botanical (adj.): 1650s, from botanic + -al. Related: Botanically.
botanist (n.): 1680s; see botany + -ist.
botany (n.): 1690s, from botanic. The -y is from astronomy, etc. Botany Bay so called by Capt. Cook on account of the great variety of plants found there.
botch (v.): late 14c., bocchen "to repair," later, "to spoil by unskillful work" (1520s); of unknown origin. Related: Botched; botching. As a noun from c. 1600.
both (adj., pron.): there are several theories, all similar, and deriving the word from the tendency to say "both the." One is that it is Old English begen (masc.) "both" (from Proto-Germanic *ba, from PIE *bho "both") + -þ extended base. Another traces it to the Proto-Germanic formula represented in Old English by ba þa "both these," from ba (feminine nominative and accusative of begen) + þa, nominative and accusative plural of se "that." A third traces it to Old Norse baðir "both," from *bai thaiz "both the," from Proto-Germanic *thaiz, third person plural pronoun. Compare similar formation in Old Frisian bethe, Dutch beide, Old High German beide, German beide, Gothic bajoþs.
bother (v.): 1718, probably from Anglo-Irish pother, because its earliest use was by Irish writers Sheridan, Swift, Sterne. Perhaps from Irish bodhairim "I deafen." Related: Bothered; bothering. As a noun from 1803.
botheration (n.): 1797, noun of action from bother (v.).
bothersome (adj.): 1817, from bother + -some (1).
botony (n.): 1570s, in heraldry, from Old French botoné (Modern French boutonné) "covered with buds," past participle of boutonner "to bud," from bouton "bud, button," 12c., from Frankish or some other Germanic source.
Botox: a commercial name for botulinum toxin, and composed of elements from those words, approved in U.S. as a temporary cosmetic injection in 2002.
botryo-: before vowels botry-, word-forming element meaning "cluster, cluster-like," from Greek botrys "cluster of grapes," which is of unknown origin.
bottle (n.): mid-14c., originally of leather, from Old French boteille (12c., Modern French bouteille), from Vulgar Latin butticula, diminutive of Late Latin buttis "a cask," which is perhaps from Greek. The bottle, figurative for "liquor," is from 17c.
bottle (v.): 1640s, from bottle (n.). Related: Bottled; bottling.
bottleneck (n.): also bottle-neck, "narrow entrance, spot where traffic becomes congested," 1896; from bottle (n.) + neck (n.). Meaning "anything which obstructs a flow" is from 1922; the verb in this sense is from 1928.
bottom (n.): Old English botm, bodan "ground, soil, foundation, lowest part," from Proto-Germanic *buthm- (source also of Old Frisian boden "soil," Old Norse botn, Dutch bodem, Old High German bodam, German Boden "ground, earth, soil"), from PIE root *bhu(n)d(h)- (source also of Sanskrit budhnah, Avestan buna- "bottom," Greek pythmen "foundation," Latin fundus "bottom, piece of land, farm," Old Irish bond "sole of the foot"). Meaning "posterior of a person" is from 1794. Bottom dollar "the last dollar one has" is from 1882. Bottom-feeder, originally of fishes, is from 1866.
bottom (v.): 1540s, "to put a bottom on," from bottom (n.). Meaning "to reach the bottom of" is from 1808 (earlier figuratively, 1785). Related: Bottomed; bottoming.
bottom line (n.): figurative sense is attested from 1967, from profit and loss accounting, where the final figure after both are calculated is the bottom line on the page. Also (especially as an adjective) bottomline.
bottomless (adj.): early 14c., from bottom + -less.
botulism (n.): 1878, from German Botulismus (1878), coined in German from Latin botulus "sausage" (see bowel) + -ismus suffix of action or state (see -ism). Sickness first traced to eating tainted sausage (sausage poisoning was an old name for it).
bouche (n.): French, literally "mouth" (Old French boche, 11c.), from Latin bucca "cheek," which in Late Latin replaced os (see oral) as the word for "mouth" (and also is the source of Italian bocca, Spanish boca). Borrowed in English in various senses, such as "king's allowance of food for his retinue" (mid-15c.); "mouth" (1580s); "metal plug for a cannon's vent" (1862; verb in this sense from 1781).
boudoir (n.): 1777, "room where a lady may retire to be alone," from French boudoir (18c.), literally "pouting room," from bouder "to pout, sulk," which, like pout, probably ultimately is imitative of puffing.
bouffant (adj.): 1869, from French bouffant, present participle of bouffer "to puff out," from Old French bouffer (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *buffare, probably ultimately imitative of puffing. As a noun by 1870. Earlier as a French word in English. First used of hairdo style 1955.
bougainvillaea (n.): see bougainvillea.
bougainvillea (n.): type of woody vine, 1866, named for French navigator Louis Bougainville (1729-1811).
bough (n.): Old English bog "shoulder, arm," extended in Old English to "twig, branch" (compare limb (n.1)), from Proto-Germanic *bogaz (source also of Old Norse bogr "shoulder," Old High German buog, German Bug "shoulder, hock, joint"), from PIE *bhagus "elbow, forearm" (source also of Sanskrit bahus "arm," Armenian bazuk, Greek pakhys "forearm"). The "limb of a tree" sense is peculiar to English.
bought: past tense and past participle of buy (v.).
boughten (adj.): irregular past participle of buy; as an adjective from 1793, especially in colloquial U.S. usage, of clothing and other items, opposed to "made."
BOUGHTEN. Which is bought. This is a common word in the interior of New England and New York. It is applied to articles purchased from the shops, to distinguish them from similar articles of home manufacture. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
bougie (n.): "wax candle," 1755, from French bougie "wax candle," from Bugia, Algeria, (Arabic Bijiyah), a town with a long-established wax trade.
bouillabaisse (n.): fish stew, 1845, from French bouillabaisse (19c.), from Provençal bouiabaisso, boulh-abaisso, a compound of two verbs corresponding to English boil-abase (the latter in the original sense of "to lower").
bouillon (n.): 1650s, from French bouillon (11c.), noun use of past participle of bouillir "to boil," from Old French bolir (see boil (v.)).
boulder (n.): 1670s, variant of Middle English bulder (c. 1300), from a Scandinavian source akin to Swedish dialectal bullersten "noisy stone" (large stone in a stream, causing water to roar around it), from bullra "to roar" + sten "stone." Or the first element might be from *buller- "round object," from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to inflate, swell" (see bole).
boulevard (n.): 1769, from French boulevard (15c.), originally "top surface of a military rampart," from a garbled attempt to adopt Middle Dutch bolwerc "wall of a fortification" (see bulwark) into French, which at that time lacked a -w- in its alphabet. The notion is of a promenade laid out atop demolished city walls, a way which would be much wider than urban streets. Originally in English with conscious echoes of Paris; since 1929, in U.S., used of multi-lane limited-access urban highways. Early French attempts to digest the Dutch word also include boloart, boulever, boloirque, bollvercq.
boulevardier (n.): 1856, French, "one who frequents the boulevard;" i.e.: man-about-town, one fond of urban living and society.
bounce (v.): early 13c., bounsen "to thump, hit," perhaps from Dutch bonzen "to beat, thump," or Low German bunsen, or imitative; sense probably influenced by bound (v.). Sense of "to bounce like a ball" is from 1510s; the rubber check sense is from 1927. Related: Bounced; bouncing.
bounce (n.): 1520s, "a heavy blow," also "a leap, a rebound" from bounce (v.). In reference to politicians and public opinion polls, by 1996, American English.
bouncer (n.): mid-19c. in various senses, noun derivative of bounce (v.) in its original sense of "thump, hit." Earliest attested is "boaster, bully, braggart" (1833); also "large example of its kind" (1842); "enforcer of order in a bar or saloon" (1865, American English, originally colloquial).
"The Bouncer" is merely the English "chucker out". When liberty verges on license and gaiety on wanton delirium, the Bouncer selects the gayest of the gay, and -- bounces him! ["London Daily News," July 26, 1883]