- bitch (n.) - Old English bicce "female dog," probably from Old
Norse bikkjuna "female of the dog" (also fox, wolf, and
occasionally other beasts), of unknown origin. Grimm derives the
Old Norse word from Lapp pittja, but OED notes that "the
converse is equally possible." As a term of contempt applied to
women, it dates from c.1400; of a man, c.1500, playfully, in the
sense of "dog." Used among male homosexuals from 1930s. In
modern (1990s, originally black English) slang, its use with
reference to a man is sexually contemptuous, from the "woman"
insult. BITCH. A she dog, or doggess; the most offensive
appellation that can be given to an English woman, even more
provoking than that of whore. ["Dictionary of the Vulgar
Tongue," 1811] Bitch goddess coined 1906 by William James; the
original one was success. - bitch (v.) - "to complain," attested
at least from 1930, perhaps from the sense in bitchy, perhaps
influenced by the verb meaning "to bungle, spoil," which is
recorded from 1823. But bitched in this sense