An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Bauer

by Friedrich Kluge

Bauer (1.), n. and m., ‘birdcage,’ a word foreign to the UpG. dialects, from MidHG. bûr, used only in the sense of ‘sojourn, birdcage;’ but OHG. bûr has the further meaning of ‘house, chamber.’ AS. bûr, ‘dwelling’ (to which E. neighbour from AS. neahgebur is related; similarly the more general meaning of Bauer appears in HG. Nachbar), E. bower, with which E. dial. bire (‘cowhouse’), AS. bŷre, is connected. The pre-Teut. form would be bhûró, with ro as a deriv. suffix. See the three following words.

Bauer (2.), m., in Erbauer, Ackerbauer, ‘tiller,’ from MidHG. bûwœre, OHG. bûâri (Goth. *bauareis is wanting), the term for the agent, from bauen.

Bauer (3.), m., ‘rustic, peasant,’ historically and etymologically different from Bauer (2.), for the MidHG. form is gebûr, OHG. gibûro, m., which belongs to the OTeut. bûr, ‘dwelling,’ discussed under Bauer (1.), and means lit. ‘co-dweller, joint-occupier,’ then ‘neighbour, fellow-citizen’ (comp. Geselle, ‘one who shares the same room’), and at a later period ‘fellow-villager, peasant, boor.’ See also Nachbar.