Bate

[Dr. Goodword]

• bate •

Pronunciation: bayt • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb

Meaning: 1. To diminish, lower, lessen. 2. To deduct, subtract, take away.

Notes: Here is a word that seems stuck in the idiom 'bated breath'. I used this phrase idiomatically for decades without knowing the meaning of bate. I'll bet many still do that. Not to be confused with bait, even though most of the major English dictionaries now accept this confusion.

In Play: Let's start off with a variation of the common idiom: "I bated my breath and bit my lip when Lotta Noyes took the stage and tried to sing along with the band." Now let's wander away from the commonplace: "The laughter of Cindy Mae Lovett alone could bate all of Harold's doubts, worries, and concerns about her sincerity."

Word History: Today's Good Word is a victim of elision; it was at one time abate. This word was hacked from French abattre "to beat down; reduce, diminish", inherited from Vulgar (Street) Latin, abbatere. This Latin word comprises ad "(up) to" + battuere "to beat", which French remodeled into abattoir "slaughterhouse". Latin battuere became French battre "to beat, strike" which ended up in English as the verb batter. Latin created its verb from PIE bhau-t- "to hit, strike". We see further evidence of it in Latin fustis "cudgel", Welsh bathu "to stamp (a coin), to mint", Scots Gaelic bat, bata "stick, cudgel", and English beat and bat. (So as not to bate her contribution to this series, let's now thank grandmaster of GW suggestions Jackie Strauss of Philadelphia for today's often confused Good Word.)

[bnjtokyo]

Also a falconry term:
bate, to, (and bating), to beat the wings impatiently, to flutter; an abortive attempt to leave the fist or perch by jump- ing or flapping the wings but being restrained by the leash or jesses.

A falcon that has bated from the perch is a miserable looking bird.

[David Myer]

We often say that the wind or the sea abated (usually at more or less the same time), so I think abated is still quite widely used. Bated is, as has been observed, almost universally used with breath (apart from bnj's curious falconry usage). Perhaps rather than resurrecting a more general usage of bate, we might do well to change our use of bated breath to abated breath. Then people would better understand the meaning of the expression. In my experience it is commonly mis-interpreted as well as mis-spelt.

[bbeeton]

While I understand that spelling might be corrected by changing the expression to "abated breath", that would spoil the lovely alliteration. And it would remove the opportunity to wonder what sort of bait might actually be effective, and for what. (But I tend to be perverse that way.)

[David Myer]

Ahh, Barbara, but baited breath always conjours in my mind, a smell of stale fish (perhaps by association with a baited hook) - certainly not particularly seductive.

[Slava]

This was one of the manic jokes from the ancient Mork and Mindy TV show. Mork was in a panic, waiting for Mindy to come back, and said that he'd been waiting "with worm on tongue". Somehow, I can even almost picture the scene.

[damoge]

Slava, you have the most amazing memory for movie and tv show scenes!
I wish I could remember what I was doing 5 minutes ago so that I could complete the task.

Debby