Etymology Map
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Bumpkin

2 stages from Dutch to English.

Today it means an unsophisticated person from the countryside

Where does the word "bumpkin" come from? It comes from Dutch boomken, adopted directly into English (1570s).

1
Stage 1 of 2
boomken
Dutch · 1500s
"little tree"
a diminutive of 'boom', tree or log
2
Stage 2 of 2
bumpkin
English · 1570s
"a short, stumpy man; later an unsophisticated rural person"
first an English jibe at stout, stumpy Dutchmen, then at clumsy country folk; later, settled on the modern sense of an awkward yokel
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Bumpkin’s story begins in Dutch: boomken meant “little tree.” A diminutive of 'boom', tree or log. It reached English by 1570s as bumpkin. First an English jibe at stout, stumpy Dutchmen, then at clumsy country folk; later, settled on the modern sense of an awkward yokel. Today, bumpkin means an unsophisticated person from the countryside.