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3001 entries found
babysit (v.)
also baby-sit, 1947, from baby (n.) + sit (v.); figurative use (often contemptuous) by 1968. Babysitting is from 1946.
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babysitter (n.)

also baby-sitter, "person who looks after a child or children while the parents are away," 1914, from baby (n.) + agent noun from sit (v.). Short form sitter is attested from 1937.

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Bacardi 
1921, name for a brand of West Indian rum produced by Compania Ron Bacardi, originally of Cuba.
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baccalaureate (n.)
1620s, "university degree of a bachelor," from Modern Latin baccalaureatus, from baccalaureus "student with the first degree," alteration of Medieval Latin baccalarius "one who has attained the lowest degree in a university, advanced student lecturing under his master's supervision but not yet having personal licence" (altered by folk etymology or word-play, as if from bacca lauri "laurel berry," laurels being awarded for academic success).

The Medieval Latin word is of uncertain origin; perhaps ultimately from Latin baculum "staff" (see bacillus), which the young student might carry. Or it might be a re-Latinization of bachelor in its academic sense.

In modern U.S. usage, baccalaureate usually is short for baccalaureate sermon (1864), a religious farewell address to a graduating class at an American college, from the adjectival sense "pertaining to the university degree of bachelor."
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baccarat (n.)
card game, 1848, from French baccara (19c.), which is of unknown origin. Baccarat is the name of a town in France that was noted for glass-making.
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Bacchae (n.)
"female attendants of Bacchus," from Greek Bakkhai, plural of Bakkhe, from Bakkhos (see Bacchus).
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Bacchanal 
1530s (n.), "riotous, drunken roistering;" 1540s (adj.) "pertaining to Bacchus," from Latin bacchanalis "having to do with Bacchus (q.v.). Meaning "characterized by intemperate drinking" is from 1711; meaning "one who indulges in drunken revels" is from 1812.
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Bacchanalia (n.)
"drunken revelry," 1630s, from the name of the Roman festival held in honor of Bacchus, from neuter plural of Latin bacchanalis "having to do with Bacchus" (q.v.); the festivals became so notorious for excess that they were forbidden by the Senate 186 B.C.E. A participant is a Bacchant (1690s), fem. Bacchante, from French. The plural of both is Bacchantes.
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Bacchanalian (adj.)
1560s, "characterized by intemperate drinking;" see Bacchanalia + -an. From 1620s as "pertaining to Bacchanals." As a noun from 1610s, "participant in the Bacchanalia."
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Bacchus 
Greek god of wine and revelry, a later name of Dionysus, late 15c., from Latin Bacchus, from Greek Bakkhos, perhaps related to Latin bacca "berry, fruit of a tree or shrub" (see bay (n.4)), or from an Asian language. Perhaps originally a Thracian fertility god.
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