bonnie

• bonny
• bonie (obsolete)

From Middle English *boni (attested only rarely as bon, boun), probably from Old French bon, feminine bonne (“good”), from Latin bonus (“good”). See bounty, and compare bonus, boon.

bonnie (comparative more bonnie, superlative most bonnie)

1. merry; happy;

   Synonyms: frolicsome, cheerful, blithe, gay

   • c. 1598 or 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

     Be you blithe and bonny
     Converting all your sounds of woe
     Into Hey nonny, nonny.

2. (Geordie, Scotland) Beautiful; pretty; attractive.
3. (dialectal, Scotland, Northern England) Fine, good (often used ironically).

   My bonnie friend, come over here.

• bonnie in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

• Bonine

• bonny

bonnie (comparative mair bonnie, superlative maist bonnie)

1. handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful
   • Gay

     Till bonny Susan sped across the plain.

   • Robert Burns

     Far from the bonnie banks of Ayr.

• Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group / Word Lists / SCOTLAND C18/2 - A SELECTION FROM BURNS' VOCABULARY