An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Biene

by Friedrich Kluge

Biene, feminine, ‘bee,’ from the equivalent Middle High German bine, bin, feminine, Old High German bini, neuter; bĭ is the proper root syllable, as is shown by Old High German bîa, Dutch bij, Anglo-Saxon beó, English bee, Old Swedish bî (Old Icelandic býfluga); the n of the weak declension is retained in the derivative Old High German bī̆ni; the form binni (from binja-), which we should have expected, is not recorded. Besides these there are Old High German and Middle High German forms with î, Old High German bîna, feminine, Middle High German bîn, feminine (Austrian dialectic Bein); they are related perhaps to Middle High German bĭn like Gothic sŭnus to Sanscrit sûnus, Gothic qĭwa to Sanscrit jîva-, &c.; compare Sohn, Queck, laut, Schaufel. Lithuanian bitìs, Irish bech, ‘bee,’ seem allied, though they have a different suffix. The word is based on a root bhī̆, ‘to be afraid,’ discussed under beben; hence Biene is perhaps ‘the trembler’?. Respecting Bienenbrot compare Brot. Bienenkorb was an early remodelled form for Old High German binichar. Biensaug, neuter, a botanical term, literally ‘a plant that the bee is fond of sucking.’