1546: bald Mar 8, 2019

Unlike many other Germanic like the German and Yiddish 'bald' meaning 'soon', the English 'bald' is actually not related, and comes from a Celtic source. In Welsh, and indeed for a long time after the word was used in English, it did not mean 'bare' as it does today, but referred to a white streak, especially on a horses face. It was only much later that it related to a patch of hairlessness.

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