Bigot

Gordon Incapability Brown produced a major gaffe when leaving on the microphones while ranting and raving about one of his voters, calling the lady a bigot.

The origin of the word bigot has so far been discussed for several centuries in several languages. It is an expression that went global long before the word globalisation had any meaning. Accordingly, its origins are murky.

In modern English, the word is correctly used when referring to a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to their own prejudices and opinions. This modern use does not necessarily give any indication on where the word originally came from. In French, the word means a person displaying more zest in adhering to their opinions than in the opinion itself. The word is also in use in German, in Finnish, in Italian, and in many other languages and often has religious connotations.

Fr. Michel who edited the Oxford and Cambridge Psalters in 1860 and 1877 respectively claims that the word bigot comes from the common Latin word Visigoth. As V and B became near the same sound in common Latin (as in Spanish and Portuguese) and visi- was shortened to bi- (as in French and Portuguese), his claim might hold water. The Visigoth kingdom in the Pyrenees was a constant thorn in the side of the Frankish Kingdom to the North and a pejorative use of the word by the Franks is therefore probable not unlike the use of Vandal today.

German etymologist Helmut Birkhan cites further possibilities: A derivation from an old German (and that includes the Anglo-Saxon) pre-Christian oath ‘bi good’ as in abstract good or material goods is possible, as well as the Viking equivalent oath. The latter would make sense as Duke Rollo of Normandy was called ‘the Bigot’ by the French probably for his Viking origins. In the 12th century, Anglo-Norman author Wace claimed that Bigot was the French appellation for all Normans.

The dictionary of the Académie Française of 1696 traced the word to the Spanish ‘hombre de bigote’ man with a moustache holder, i.e. a man with strict principles. And Birkhan even doesn’t want to exclude the possibility that the word has Yiddish origins in begotish derived from the Hebrew ‘bagad’ (to prevaricate). They all agree only in one thing, the inclusion of God came after the word.

This later inclusion of God is charmingly exemplified by a French anecdote: When Rollo was invested by Charles of France with the Duchy of Normandy; he was expected to kiss the foot of the King as a sign of his acceptance as suzerain. Rollo is reported having said ‘Ne se bi god’, never by God, resulting in being called Rollo the Bigot after that.

As with many words that are in frequent common use, the possibility that several of the given explanations might be true by merging previous meanings to a new use is a real possibility.

In literature, the modern use of the word is certain in France since the 15th century and in England since 1598. The word entered German only in the 18th century as bigot and received its modern form of bigott (including the meaning of God) only in 1850. The exact moment when the word entered the English language can’t be answered, but it seems highly unlikely that it derived from the German ‘bei Gott’ (by God) as claimed on Wikipedia. Considering how many French words entered the English usage, a French origin on the other hand seems highly likely.

Whatever its origins, if you take the modern meaning of the word you’ll have to conclude that only a bigot would call another person a bigot.