Bid
/bɪd/noun
To offer a price, make an offer, or command someone to do something.
Did you know?In Old English, the same word-family behind *bid* could mean both “to ask” and “to command,” showing how speech itself was once treated like an act with real power.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*bidjaną
“to ask, pray, request”
Old English
OE
biddan
“to ask, pray, entreat; later also to command in some forms of usage”
Old Norse
ON
biðja
“to ask, request, woo”
Middle English
ME
bidden
“to ask, summon, command”
Modern English
English
bid
“to offer a price, attempt, or command”