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bawd

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bawd

[bawd]
–noun
1. a woman who maintains a brothel; madam.
2. a prostitute.
3. Archaic. a procuress.

Origin:
1325–75; ME bawde, n. use of MF baude, fem. of baud jolly, dissolute < WGmc; cf. OE bald bold
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bawd   (bôd)   
n.  
  1. A woman who keeps a brothel; a madam.

  2. A woman prostitute.


[Middle English, probably from Old French baud, merry, licentious, from Old Low German bald, bold, merry; see bhel-2 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bawd 
a complicated word of uncertain history. First attested 1483, "lewd person" (of either sex; since c.1700 applied only to women), probably from baude-strote "procurer of prostitutes" (1362), which may be from M.E. bawde (adj.) "merry, joyous," from O.Fr. baud "gay, licentious" (from Frank. bald "bold"). It would not be the first time a word meaning "joyous" had taken on a sexual sense. The O.Fr. word also is the source of Fr. baudet "donkey," in Picardy dialect "loose woman." The second element in baude-strote would be trot "one who runs errands," or Gmc. *strutt (see strut). But OED doubts all this. There was an O.Fr. baudetrot of the same meaning (13c.), and this may be the direct source of M.E. baude-strote. The obsolete word bronstrops "procuress," frequently found in Middleton's comedies, probably is an alt. of baude-strote Bawdry "obscenity" (c.1374) is probably from O.Fr. bauderie "boldness." Bawdy is 1513, "of, pertaining to, or befitting a bawd;" usually of language (originally to talk bawdy).
"Bawdy Basket, the twenty-third rank of canters, who carry pins, tape, ballads and obscene books to sell." [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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