↑ Orel, Vladimir(2000)A Concise Historical Grammar of the Albanian Language, Leiden: Brill, page 14
Etymology
A singularized plural, based on a more archaic *bahë, from Proto-Albanian*bajā, from Proto-Indo-European*bhei 'to strike, to beat'. Cognate to Slavic *bojь 'fight'[1], and possibly to Germanic *bautan 'to beat' and Latin fustis(“knobbed stick, cudgel”).