Etymology

Formally this word could be native, and so it is assumed by most commentators. Both elements of the compound are common Gmc words: cp. OE (ge-)bod, OFris bod, OS gibod, OHG bot, ON boð < PGmc *ƀudan (pp. stem of *ƀeudan- 'command, offer'); Goth waurd, OE, OFris, OS word, OHG wort, ON orð < PGmc *wurdan. MED (echoed by Anderson and Peterson), however, suggests the ME is from ON, comparing the parallel compound OIcel boð-orð. The initial occurrence of this compound in English in Orrm and its distribution in the N and Midlands support this interpretation. It is also conceivable, however, that it might have been coined independently within English (cp. e.g. OE bod-lāc 'ordinance').

PGmc Ancestor

*ƀudan + *wurdan

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

boð-orð 'message, command, etc.'
(ONP boð-orð (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

OE Cognate

cp. (ge-)bod 'command, message, precept'

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

CC4c

Attestation

Chiefly N, Midlands and Sc in ME and early MnE (MED, OED, EDD); first occurs in Orrm.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Cl 473; Erk 105; WA 48, 1458, 1489

Bibliography

MED bōde-wǒrd (n.) , OED bodeword (n.) , HTOED , EDD bodword (sb.), Orel *ƀuđan, Kroonen *buda-, Seebold Beud-a-