babe
- a baby or child.
- an innocent or inexperienced person.
- (usually initial capital letter) Southern U.S. (used, often before the surname, as a familiar name for a boy or man, especially the youngest of a family.)
- Slang.
- Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.a girl or woman, especially an attractive one: Her roommate is a real babe!
- an attractive young man.
- (sometimes initial capital letter)an affectionate or familiar term of address (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).
- babe in the woods, an innocent, unsuspecting person, especially one likely to be victimized by others: Some highly informed people are mere babes in the woods where the stock market is concerned.Also babe in the wood.
Origin of babe
Synonyms
See more synonyms for babe on Thesaurus.comRuth2
- George HermanBabe, 1895–1948, U.S. baseball player.
Zaharias
- Mildred Did·rik·son [did-rik-suh n] /ˈdɪd rɪk sən/, Babe, 1914–56, U.S. track-and-field athlete and golfer.
Examples from the Web for babe
Contemporary Examples
In the note, Babe asked to see Leslie one last time before he left New York City forever.
One afternoon, with [Babe] Dahlgren near him in the dugout, a photographer asked Lou if he could take a photo of the two of them.
The Babe showed up, too, arriving late, as usual, and looking tanned as a lifeguard.
The Babe walked over to the stooped figure at the microphone and threw his arms around Lou's neck.
According to Lazenby, Jordan experienced a complete 180 when he transitioned from Little League to Babe Ruth baseball.
Historical Examples
I some expected Tirzah Ann and the babe home that day to dinner.
Samantha Among the Brethren, Part 4.Josiah Allen's Wife (Marietta Holley)
"Three boys and a babe at the buzzom," said Mr. Stubmore pathetically.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
And from the time he was a babe in the nursery Coryston had fulfilled it to perfection.
The Coryston FamilyMrs. Humphry Ward
Bless you, bless you, my babe; my beloved, my cherished Eve!
Homeward BoundJames Fenimore Cooper
Prince Paul of Kostroma was godfather, and gave the babe the name of Alexis.
Beauty and The Beast, and Tales From HomeBayard Taylor
babe
- a baby
- informal a naive, gullible, or unsuspecting person (often in the phrase a babe in arms)
- informal a young woman or man perceived as being sexually attractive
ruth
- pity; compassion
- repentance; remorse
- grief or distress
Word Origin
Ruth
- Old Testament
- a Moabite woman, who left her own people to remain with her mother-in-law Naomi, and became the wife of Boaz; an ancestress of David
- the book in which these events are recounted
- George Herman, nicknamed Babe . 1895–1948, US professional baseball player from 1914 to 1935
Word Origin and History for babe
n.
late 14c., short for baban (early 13c.), which probably is imitative of baby talk (cf. babble), however in many languages the cognate word means "old woman" (cf. Russian babushka "grandmother," from baba "peasant woman").
Crist crid in cradil, "moder, baba!" [John Audelay, c.1426]
Now mostly superseded by its diminutive form baby. Used figuratively for "a childish person" from 1520s. Meaning "attractive young woman" is 1915, college slang. Babe in the woods is from 1795.
Ruth
fem. proper name, biblical ancestor of David, from Hebrew Ruth, probably a contraction of reuth "companion, friend, fellow woman."
ruth
n.
"sorrow for the misery of another; repentance, regret," c.1200, ruthe, from Old Norse hryggð "ruth, sorrow," from hryggr "sorrowful, grieved" (see rue (v.)) + Proto-Germanic abstract noun suffix *-itho (see -th (2)). Or else formed in English from reuwen "to rue" on the model of true/truth, etc. The Old English word was rue (n.2).
Ruth
The great-grandmother of King David, known for her kindness and faithfulness. Not an Israelite herself, she married an Israelite who had come to her country with his family. Ruth's husband died, and her mother-in-law, Naomi, set out to return to the country of the Israelites. Ruth insisted on accompanying Naomi, saying, “ Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge.” In the country of the Israelites, Ruth married Boaz, a rich relative of her dead husband; Boaz had been attracted to Ruth by her generosity. Her story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament.