The lowest part of something; the part that supports whatever is on top.
From Old English “botm,” meaning “ground, valley, lowest part,” related to German “Boden” meaning “ground or floor.” It has always pointed toward what lies underneath everything else.
When you say you’ve hit “rock bottom,” you’re using a word that originally just meant the ground beneath your feet. Language turned a physical floor into a powerful metaphorical one for life’s low points.
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