Well I cant fall into the bigot fold based on my convo with my mate wiki;
The exact origin of the word is unknown, but it may have come from the
German bei and
gott, or the English
by God.
William Camden wrote that the
Normans were first called bigots, when their Duke
Rollo, who when receiving Gisla, daughter of
King Charles, in marriage, and with her the investiture of the dukedom, refused to kiss the king's foot in token of subjection - unless the king would hold it out for that specific purpose. When being urged to do it by those present, Rollo answered hastily "No, by God", whereupon the King, turning about, called him
bigot, which then passed from him to his people.
[1] This is quite probably fictional, as Gisla is unknown in Frankish sources. It is true, however, that the French used the term
bigot to abuse the Normans.
[2].
The twelfth century Charlotte B J Anglo-Norman author Wace claimed that
bigot was an insult which the French used against the Normans, but it is unclear whether or not this is how it entered the English language.
[3]
According to
Egon Friedell, "bigot" is of the same root as "
visigoth". In
Vulgar Latin, the initial
v transformed into
b (a phenomenon today encountered in Iberian languages, such as
Spanish and
Portuguese;
visi had truncated into
bi in Vulgar Latin (a phenomenon common in French and Portuguese).
[1][2]
A bigot (in modern usage) is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from their own or intolerant of people of different ethnicity, race, or class.