One of English's deepest mysteries — appeared c. 1300 with no clear ancestor in any language, and borrowed 'worse' and 'worst' from an unrelated word.
Of poor quality or a low standard; not good; unpleasant, harmful, or morally reprehensible.
One of the most mysterious words in English etymology. First attested around 1300 in Middle English as 'badde,' it has no clear cognates in any other Germanic language and no established Proto-Germanic or PIE ancestor. The leading theory traces it to Old English 'bæddel' meaning 'hermaphrodite' or 'effeminate man,' used as a term of abuse, which may have generalized into a
'Bad' is one of the great etymological mysteries of English — it appeared seemingly from nowhere around 1300 with no cognates in any other Germanic language. Before 'bad' arrived, English used 'evil,' 'wicked,' and 'ill' for the same concept. Its suppletive comparative 'worse' and superlative 'worst' actually belong to a different, older word