1915: bead Mar 13, 2020

We may associate beads with jewellery or even Mardi Gras, but even in Middle English 'bede' referred to prayer. In Old English 'bede' or more often 'gebed' meant 'to pray' and is related to the word 'bid' which now means 'urge' but back then meant 'to request', like the German 'bitte' [1] as in the exclamation 'please'. The transfer in meaning happened as an association with rosary beads used for prayer. Moreover 'bead' as in a globule of liquid also comes from this word meaning 'ask' but has also Early Modern English referred to the sight on a gun.
Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts