bubby
English
Etymology 1
Likely a babble word; compare dialectal German Bübbi (“teat”).[1] Some older references connected the word to French poupe, but this is considered "very doubtful" by the OED.[2] Compare Latin pūpa (“little girl”).[3]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbʊbi/, /ˈbʌbi/
- Rhymes: -ʌbi
Noun
bubby (plural bubbies)
- (slang) A woman's breast.
- Synonym: bub
- 1685, John Dryden, Sylvae:
- Chlo: What do you mean (uncivil as you are) / To touch my breaſts and leave my boſome bare? / Daph: Theſe pretty bubbies firſt I make my own.
- 2009, Arlene Gorey, My Spanking Diary:
- Mr. Douglas got up from the couch, shucked down his pants, and then knelt down beside my mother. He reached out and grabbed her big round bubbies, and began to squeeze and play with them, while he teased her by prodding his cock against her red behind.
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:breasts
Derived terms
- booby
Descendants
- → Spanish: bubi
Etymology 2
Perhaps from brother, as pronounced by young children who are not yet able to properly pronounce its complex consonants, but alternatively perhaps from Pennsylvania German; see bub. Compare sissy.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun
bubby (plural bubbies)
- (childish) Familiar term of address for a boy; bub; bubba.
- 1862, Wine or water; a tale of New England, OCLC 22167977, page 78:
- Mother sent me to hunt you; she is dying, and sissy and bubby are hungry and the baby is crying, and we're afraid the cross man will come.
-
Etymology 3
Variant spelling. (From Yiddish.)
Noun
bubby
- Alternative spelling of bubbe (“grandmother”)
References
- Oxford Dictionary of English →ISBN
- As early as the 1887 edition (A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles) it has said of bubby "Cf. Ger. bübbi teat (Grimm). Connexion with F. poupe teat of an animal (formerly also of a woman), Pr. popa, It. poppa teat, is very doubtful."
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “boobs”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.