Belly Meant a Bag Before It Meant a Body
The belly is the abdomen. The Old English word meant a bag or pouch, and it is related to bellows and to the verb to bulge.
The belly is the front of the abdomen. The Old English *belg* meant a bag, a leather pouch or a bellows — anything that swells when filled. It is related to *bellows*, to *bag*, and to *bulge*, all of them about something inflating. The word was blunt enough that Victorian English replaced it with *stomach* in polite speech, which is why belly still sounds informal.
- The abdomen. *A full belly.*
- A curved underside. *The belly of a ship.*
- Bellyache — stomach pain, or to complain. *Stop bellyaching.*
- Belly laugh — a deep laugh. *A proper belly laugh.*
- Go belly up — to fail. *The firm went belly up.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | belly | A round belly. |
| Plural | bellies | Pork bellies. |
| Verb | belly | The sail bellied out. |
| Related | bellows | A pair of bellows. |
| Related | bulge | A bulge in the wall. |
- The sail bellied in the wind.The verb: swelled.
- The company went belly up in March.Idiom: from a dead fish.
- An army marches on its stomach.The polite replacement word.
Belly idioms
- Belly up — dead or bankrupt, from a floating fish
- Belly laugh — deep and involuntary
- Bellyache — to complain persistently
- Fire in the belly — determination
- Belly of the beast — the dangerous centre of something
Old English *belg*, a bag or leather pouch, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning to swell. The same root gives *bellows* and *billow*.
Are belly and bellows related?
Yes. Both come from a root meaning to swell. Bellows is literally a bag that fills with air.
Why does belly sound informal?
Because Victorian usage pushed it out of polite speech in favour of stomach. The older bluntness never quite came back.