Etymology From Middle English bawde, baude, from Old French baud (“bold, lively, jolly, gay”). Doublet of bold. An association with Welsh bawddyn (“dirty fellow, scoundrel”), from baw (“dirt”), was suggested by the Rev. Henry Todd.
1
Archaic, Historical One who keeps a brothel, or procures women for prostitution; a procurer or madam.
Of late in the Park, a fair fancy was seen / Betwixt an old Baud and a lusty young Quean, / Their parting of Money began the uproar, / I'll have half says the Baud, but you shan't says the Whore1709, Wit and mirth: or, Pills to Purge Melancholy; Being a Choice Collection of the best Merry Ballads […] , Second Edition edition, volume IV, London: William Pearson, page 18:
As Whores decay'd and past their Labours, / Turn Bawds, and so assist their Neighbours.1717, Ned Ward, British Wonders:
2 more examples
[…] here were no Gibers, Cenſurers, Backbiters, Pick-pockets, Highwaymen, Houſebreakers, Attorneys, Bawds, Buffoons, Gameſters, Politicians, Wits, ſplenetick tedious Talkers, Controvertiſts, Raviſhers, Murderers, Robbers, Virtuoſo's; […]1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Oeconomy and Happy Life among the Houyhnhnms. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 301:
Compared with their opponents, bawds and their associates increasingly had deeper pockets and greater confidence in manipulating the law.2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 76:
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Broadly, Obsolete A person who facilitates an immoral act, especially one of a sexual nature.
In ſaying this thou wrongſt me Gaueſton, / Iſt not enough that thou corrupts my Lord, / And art a Bawd to his affections, / But thou muſt call mine honour thus in queſtion?1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act I]:
Etymology From Middle English bawde, baude, from Old French baud (“bold, lively, jolly, gay”). Doublet of bold. An association with Welsh bawddyn (“dirty fellow, scoundrel”), from baw (“dirt”), was suggested by the Rev. Henry Todd.
Etymology From Middle English bawde, baude, from Old French baud (“bold, lively, jolly, gay”). Doublet of bold. An association with Welsh bawddyn (“dirty fellow, scoundrel”), from baw (“dirt”), was suggested by the Rev. Henry Todd.