ב־י־תب ي ت

b-y-t “house”

Proto-Semitic *bayt- 'house' is the letter beta (and half of alphabet), the Bēṯ- of Bethel, Bethlehem (hence bedlam), Bethesda and Bethany, Dutch cant bajes 'jail', and the Yiddish balebos(te), 'master (mistress) of the house'.

Family membershipCertain

Today7 of 8 words have reached English

70 hops. The slider moves through them evenly, so busy centuries get room.

Words from this root 8

betaProto-Semitic → Phoenician → Ancient Greek → Latin → Middle English → English
alphabetPhoenician → Ancient Greek → Koine Greek → Late Latin → Middle English → English
bethelBiblical Hebrew → Koine Greek → Late Latin → English
bedlamBiblical Hebrew → Koine Greek → Late Latin → Old English → Middle English → English
BethesdaAramaic → Koine Greek → English → American English
BethanyAramaic → Koine Greek → Late Latin → Middle English → English
bajesBiblical Hebrew → Yiddish → Dutch → Dutch
balabustaBiblical Hebrew → Mishnaic Hebrew → Yiddish → American English

Relatives outside the atlas

Biblical Hebrew	בַּיִת	bayiṯ	“house”
Biblical Hebrew	בֵּית	bêṯ	“house of (construct form)”
Arabic	بَيْت	bayt	“house; verse of poetry”
Arabic	بَيْت لَحْم	Bayt Laḥm	“Bethlehem”
Aramaic	בַּיְתָא	baytāʾ	“house”
Akkadian	bītu	bītu	“house”
Modern Hebrew	בֵּית כְּנֶסֶת	beit knesset	“synagogue, 'house of assembly'”