Bau

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bau"

English

Etymology 1

Various origins:

• Borrowed from German Bau, perhaps a short form of compounds with this element, such as Bauhofer or Baumann.
• Borrowed from French Bau, perhaps a variant of Beau.
• Variant of Bao, a surname of Chinese origin.

Proper noun

Bau (plural Baus)

1. A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Bau is the 37544^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 593 individuals. Bau is most common among White (60.54%), Asian/Pacific Islander (23.95%) and Hispanic/Latino (11.47%) individuals.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Bau

1. (Mesopotamian mythology) A Mesopotamian goddess, initially a life-giving deity sometimes associated with the creation of mankind, later a goddess of healing and medicine.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Bau”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 1, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 115.
• Gula (goddess) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ninisina on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

German

Etymology

From Middle High German bū, bou, from Old High German bū, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *būą (“building, dwelling”). The plural form Bauten is that of the related Low German Bude (“building”), from Middle Low German bûwete. The singular Baute did not catch on in standard German.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baʊ̯/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊ̯

Noun

Bau m (strong, genitive Baues or Baus, plural Bauten or Baue)

1. building, construction (the act of constructing)

   Synonyms: Bauen, Errichtung, Konstruktion

   Antonyms: Abriss, Vernichtung, Zerstörung

2. building site, construction site (place where such constructing takes place)

   Synonym: Baustelle

3. building, construction, edifice (built-up structure, house)

   Synonyms: Gebäude, Bauwerk, Konstruktion

4. burrow (of an animal, especially under ground)
5. (colloquial) prison, jail

   Synonyms: Gefängnis, Kittchen, Knast

Usage notes

• Nowadays the plural is Bauten for “buildings” and Baue for “burrows”. The other senses do not have a common plural form.
• A third plural Bäue with umlaut is obsolete.

Declension

Declension of Bau [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Bau	die	Bauten, Baue
genitive	eines	des	Baues, Baus	der	Bauten, Baue
dative	einem	dem	Bau, Baue1	den	Bauten, Bauen
accusative	einen	den	Bau	die	Bauten, Baue

¹Now rare, see notes.

Hyponyms

• Abbau
• Ackerbau
• Anbau
• Anlagenbau
• Aufbau
• Ausbau
• Brückenbau
• Dachsbau
• Einbau
• Fahrzeugbau
• Flugzeugbau
• Fuchsbau
• Gartenbau
• Hausbau
• Hochbau
• Kaninchenbau
• Körperbau
• Landbau
• Leichtbau
• Maschinenbau
• Mauerbau
• Monumentalbau
• Neidbau
• Neubau
• Plattenbau
• Raubbau
• Reaktorbau
• Rückbau
• Satzbau
• Schiffbau
• Schiffsbau
• Schwarzbau
• Strassenbau
• Straßenbau
• Tiefbau
• Überbau
• Umbau
• Unterbau
• Untertagebau
• Wegebau
• Weinbau
• Wohnungsbau
• Zaunbau

Related terms

• Bauamt
• Bauarbeiten
• Bauarbeiter
• Baueinheit
• Bauen
• bauen
• Bauer
• Bauerin
• Baufall
• Bauhaus
• Bauleiter
• Baumeister
• Baumeisterin
• Bausoldat
• Bausoldatin
• Bautechnik
• bautechnisch
• Bauvorschrift

Further reading

• “Bau” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Bau” in Duden online

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Old High German bū. Cognate with German Bau, Dutch bouw, Swedish bo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bæːʊ̯]

Noun

Bau m (plural Bai)

1. building
2. building site

Related terms

• bauen