ONlwSG

bìdeadh m. [ˈb̥iːd̥ʲəɣ], gen. bìdidh [ˈb̥iːd̥ʲi], ‘bite, cut, nip, pinch; biting, cutting, nipping, pinching’. Oftedal (1956, 67, 103, 107) derives bìdeadh from ON bíta vb ‘to bite’, pointing out (≈1962, 122) that ‘[t]he most “central” Norse loan-words in Gaelic are probably nàbaidh ‘neighbour’, bìdeadh ‘to bite’ and rannsachadh ‘to search’ (< ON nábúi, bíta, rannsaka)’, and McDonald (2009, 342) considers the loan likely.

Bìdeadh is associated with the Western Isles (McDonald 1972, 144, s.v. gòmag: ‘Islands’), not just Lewis as M^cAlpine (1832) notes, also Wester Ross (Wentworth 2003) and the North Highlands (HSS 1828). Related words include bìd m. ‘bit’ (HSS; Wentworth), bìd vb ‘to bite’ etc. (HSS; M^cAlpine; MacLennan 1925; Wentworth), bìdeach adj. ‘tiny, small’ (HSS; M^cAlpine; MacLennan; Wentworth), the abstract noun bìdeachd f. (M^cAlpine; MacLennan), bìdeag f. ‘bite, small portion’ (HSS; MacLennan; McDonald 1972, ibid.; Wentworth), bìdeagach adj. ‘nipping, pinching’ (HSS), bìdein m. ‘diminutive person or thing’ (ibid.). Forms with a non-palatal medial dental also occur: bìodadh m. ‘cutting, nicking’ (Wentworth), bìod vb ‘to cut, nick’ (ibid.), bìodach adj. ‘tiny, small’ (MacLennan), bìodag f. ‘baby girl’ (ibid.), bìodan m. ‘baby boy’ (ibid.).

MacBain (1896; 1911) derives the nouns bìd and bìdein from Scots and/or Eng. bite or bit. Given the variation in form with either palatal or non-palatal dentals in Scottish Gaelic, a Scots and/or English origin seems more probable. Assuming a development of Scots/Eng. bite n./vb to SG bìd (bìod) m./vb, for which we can compare Scots/Eng. tide > SG tìde ‘time; weather’, Scots/Eng. price > SG prìs f. and Scots/Eng. piece > SG pìos m., the addition of suffixes yield (with -adh) the verbal noun bìdeadh, (with -an) the diminutives bìdein (bìodan) and (with -ag) bìdeag (bìodag, along with the adjectival form bìdeagach), (with -ach) the adjectival form bìdeach (bìodach) and (with -achd) the abstract noun bìdeachd. Contrast the forms SG biod (Lewis) [b̥ød̪̥], (Gairloch) [b̥ɤt̠] ‘bit’ (Wentworth 2003, s.v. bit: SG boi’d (sic)) and bideag (East Perthshire) /biǰɑɡ/ ‘portion, short distance’, (West Perthshire) idem ‘small amount, distance’ (Ó Murchú 1989, 294; 2021, 164), with short stressed vowels, which seem to be from Scots/Eng. bit.

Cf. MacBain (ibid.) who derives bideag from Scots bittock, diminutive of bit.

^,

In Irish, cf. the adjective bídeach ‘tiny’ and nouns bídeach ‘tiny girl, woman’ and bídeog ‘tiny thing’ (Ó Dónaill 1977).