babe

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see also: Babe

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Etymology

From Middle English babe, a variant of earlier baban, perhaps from Old English *baba, from Proto-West Germanic *babō, from Proto-Germanic *babô, reduplicated variant of *ba-, *bō-.

Related to ofs bobba (whence Northern Frisian babbe, babb, babe), Old High German Babo, see boy. Otherwise, origin obscure. Compare mama, dada, papa. Welsh baban, believed by Skeat to be a mutation of maban, a diminutive of mab, is probably rather a borrowing from English.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /beɪb/, enPR: bāb

Noun

babe (plural babes)

1. (literary or poetic) A baby or infant; a very young human or animal. [from 14th c.]

   These events came to pass when he was but a babe.

2. (slang) An attractive person, especially a young woman. [from 20th c.]

   She's a real babe!

3. (affectionate) Darling term of endearment.

   Hey, babe, how's about you and me getting together?

Synonyms

• (infant) baby, child, infant
• (attractive person) looker; See Thesaurus:beautiful person
  • (woman) hottie, doll, fox; See: Thesaurus:beautiful woman
• (darling) darling, dear, love, sweetheart

Translations

• German: Puppe , Maus
• Portuguese: gata (informal)
• Russian: мила́шка

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Babe

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Etymology

Use of the common noun babe as a (nick)name.

Proper noun

1. A male given name or nickname

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