Re: [tied] Boss

At 12:17:56 PM on Monday, June 6, 2005, tgpedersen wrote:

> Does anyone know the etymology of Dutch 'baas', English
> 'boss' (I'm of course looking for a Nordwestblock
> connedction here, that would take care also of the
> alternation -t-/-s-, if they are not different suffixes)?

OED2 says that Du. <baas> 'master' was formerly 'uncle' and
is "supposed to be related to Ger. _base_ female cousin, OHG
_basa_ 'aunt'".

Brian