English: Etymology of Tits

Xah Lee, 2011-09-11, 2011-10-04

Where does the word tits came from?

Etymology of Breast:

The English word breast derives from the Old English word brēost (breast, bosom) from Proto-Germanic breustam (breast), from the Proto-Indo-European base bhreus– (to swell, to sprout).[2] The breast spelling conforms to the Scottish and North English dialectal pronunciations.[3]

• [2] Indo-European Lexicon, Pokorny Master PIE Etyma 2011-08-23 By Linguistics Research Center In The College Of Liberal Arts At UT Austin. @ Source www.utexas.edu
• [3] Online Etymology Dictionary (2010) By Douglas Harper. @ Source www.etymonline.com

Etymology of Teat and Nipple:

The word nipple most likely originates as a diminutive of “neb”, an Old English word meaning “beak”, “nose”, or “face”, and which is of Germanic origin.[1] The words teat and tit share a Germanic ancestor. The second of the two, tit, was inherited directly from Proto-Germanic, while the first entered English via Old French.[2][3]

1530s, nyppell, alteration of neble, probably dim. of O.E. neb “bill, beak, snout” (see neb), hence, lit. “a small projection.”

“breast,” O.E. titt (a variant of teat). But the modern slang tits (pl.), attested from 1928, seems to be a recent reinvention from teat, used without awareness that it is a throwback to the original form. Titty, however, is on record from 1746 as “a dial. and nursery dim. of teat.”

All the above are from the following, search for {teat, tit, nipple}:

teat tit nipple