Etymology Dictionary

BABE,  an infant.  (C.)   M. E. babe, Gower, C. A. i. 290; bab, Towneley Myst. p. 149; the full form being baban, Ancren Riwle, p. 234; and even Levins has:  'Babbon, pupus, 163. 12.—Welsh, Gaelic, Irish, Cornish, baban. + Manx bab, baban, a babe, child.   'This is a mutation of maban, dimin. of máb, a son; but [also] used primarily in Cornish and Welsh, as is the case in other instances;'  Lexicon Cornu-Britannicum, by R. Williams.—W. máb, a son. + Gael., Irish, and Manx mac, a son, the young of any animal.   [The forms mab and mac are modifications of Early Welsh maqvi, a son; Rhys, Lect. on Welsh Philology, pp. 23, 419.] + Goth. magus, a boy.—✔MAGH, to augment; Fick, i. 708.   See May.   ¶ Instead of babe being formed from the infantine sound ba, it has been modified from maqvi; probably by infantine influences.   Baby is a diminutive form; like lassie from lass.   Der. bab-y, baby-ish, baby-hood.