1761, "image of the Christ child in swaddling clothes," especially as exhibited in Italian churches at Christmastime, from Italian bambino, "baby, little child," a diminutive of bambo "simple" (compare Latin bambalio "dolt," Greek bambainein "to stammer"), of imitative origin. In U.S. baseball lore, a nickname of George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (1895-1948).
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