be - synonyms, antonyms, definitions

be

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of be in English

English Online Dictionary. What means be‎? What does be mean?

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Belarusian

Symbol

(international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Belarusian.

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English been (“to be”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /biː/
(General American) IPA^(key): /bi/
Homophones: b, bee, Bea
Rhymes: -iː

Verb

be (highly irregular; see conjugation table)

As an auxiliary verb:
1. (auxiliary) Used with past participles of verbs to form the passive voice.
2. Used with present participles of verbs to form the continuous aspect.
3. (formal) Used with to-infinitives of verbs to express intent, obligation, appropriateness, or relative future occurrence.
4. Used with past participles of certain intransitive verbs to form the perfect aspect.
  - Matthew 28:6 (various translations, from the King James Version of 1611 to Revised Version of 1881):
    He is not here; for he is risen […].
  - 1922, A. E. Housman, Last Poems XXV, l.13, page 51:
    The King with half the East at heel is marched from lands of morning;
5. (African-American Vernacular, Caribbean, Ireland, auxiliary, not conjugated) To tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.
  - 1996, David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein, Tom Shadyac and Steve Oedekerk, screenplay of The Nutty Professor
    Women be shoppin’! You cannot stop a woman from shoppin’!
As a copulative verb:
1. (with there, or dialectally it, as dummy subject) To exist.
2. Used to indicate that the subject and object are identical or equivalent.
3. Used to indicate that the subject is an instance of the predicate nominal.
4. Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by an adjective, prepositional phrase.
5. Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
6. Used to link a subject to a measurement.
7. (with a cardinal numeral) Used to state the age of a subject in years.
8. (with a dummy subject it) Used to indicate the time of day.
9. (with since) Used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.
10. (rare and regional, chiefly in the past tense) Used to link two noun clauses, the first of which is a day of the week, recurring date, month, or other specific time (on which the event of the main clause took place), and the second of which is a period of time indicating how long ago that day was. [from 15th c.]
  - 1895, Miss M. E. Rope of Suffolk, quoted by Joseph Wright, in The English Dialect Dictionary, page 202:
    'Twas there to-morrow is a week.
  - 1920 (published), St. George Kieran Hyland, A Century of Persecution Under Tudor and Stuart Sovereigns from Contemporary Records, London, Paul, page 402, quoting an earlier document, Loosley volume 5, no. 28, "List of Prisoners: In Sir W. More's handwriting":
    Theobald Green gent dead in the Marshalsea in August was twelvemonth
    
    John Grey gent delivered out of the Marshalsea about August last by Mr. Secretary and remains in St. Mary Overies.
    
    John Jacob gent delivered out of the Marsh. the XVII of May was twelvemonth and sent to Bridewell by order of the Council.
11. To pass or spend (time).
12. To take a period of time.
13. (often impersonal, with it as a dummy subject) Used to indicate ambient conditions such as weather, light, noise or air quality.
14. (dynamic / lexical be, especially in progressive tenses, conjugated non-suppletively in the present tense, see usage notes) To exist or behave in a certain way.
  - 2006 October 9, Kristin Newman (writer), Barney Stinson (character), How I Met Your Mother, season 2, episode 1:
    "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."
As an intransitive lexical verb:
1. (now usually literary) To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
2. To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
3. To occupy a place.
4. To occur, to take place.
5. (in perfect tenses) Elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar, also extending to certain other senses of "go".

Usage notes

When be is used copulatively with a pronoun, traditional grammar puts the pronoun in the subjective case (I, he, she, we, they) rather than the objective case (me, him, her, us, them), regardless of which side of the copula it is placed. For example, “I was the masked man” and “The masked man was I” would both be considered correct, while “The masked man was me” and “Me was the masked man” would both be incorrect. However, most colloquial speech treats the verb be as transitive, in which case the pronoun is used in the objective case if it occurs after the copula: “I was the masked man” but “The masked man was me”. This paradigm applies even if the copula is linking two pronouns; thus “I am her” and “She is me", and “Am I me?” (versus the traditional “I am she”, “She is I”, “Am I I?”). However, the use of whom with a copula is generally considered incorrect and a hypercorrection, though in some cases (especially in sentences involving a to-infinitive or a perfect tense), such as “Whom do you want to be?”, it can come naturally to some speakers; in short, straightforward sentences, such as “Whom are you?”, this is much rarer and likelier to be considered incorrect.
In most copulative and intransitive con-copulative senses be is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous aspect. See Category:English stative verbs.

Conjugation

Modern

Archaic

The verb be is the most irregular non-defective verb in Standard English. Unlike other verbs, which distinguish at most five forms (as in do–does–doing–did–done), be distinguishes eight:
- Be itself is the plain form, used as the infinitive, as the imperative, and as the present subjunctive (though many speakers do not distinguish the present indicative and present subjunctive, using the indicative forms for both).
  I want to be a father someday. (infinitive)
  
  If that be true... (present subjunctive; is is common in this position)
  
  Allow the truth to be heard! (infinitive)
  
  Please be here by eight o’clock. (imperative)
  
  The librarian asked that the rare books not be touched. (present subjunctive; speakers that do not distinguish the subjunctive and indicative would use an auxiliary verb construction here)
  
  Be is also used as the present tense indicative form in the alternative, dynamic / lexical conjugation of be:
  What do we do? We be ourselves. (first-person plural present indicative, lexical be)
  
  but: Who are we? We are human beings. (first-person plural present indicative, copula be)
  
  It is also an archaic alternative form of the indicative, especially in the plural:
  The powers that be, are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1, Tyndale Bible, 1526)
  
  We are true men; we are no spies: We be twelve brethren... (Genesis 42:31–2, King James Version, 1611)
  
  I think it be thine indeed, for thou liest in it. (Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1, circa 1600 – though this may be viewed as the subjunctive instead)
- Am, are, and is are the forms of the present indicative. Am is the first-person singular (used with I); is is the third-person singular (used with he, she, it and other subjects that would be used with does rather than do); and are is both the second-person singular and the plural (used with we, you, they, and any other plural subjects).
  Am I in the right place? (first-person singular present indicative)
  
  You are even taller than your brother! (second-person singular present indicative)
  
  Where is the library? (third-person singular present indicative)
  
  These are the biggest shoes we have. (plural present indicative)
- Was and were are the forms of the past indicative and past subjunctive (like did). In the past indicative, was is the first- and third-person singular (used with I, as well as with he, she, it and other subjects that would be used with does rather than do), and were is both the second-person singular and the plural (used with we, you, they, and any other plural subjects). In the traditional past subjunctive, were is used with all subjects, though many speakers do not actually distinguish the past subjunctive from the past indicative, and therefore use was with first- and third-person singular subjects even in cases where other speakers would use were.
  I was out of town. (first-person singular past indicative)
  
  You were the first person here. (second-person singular past indicative)
  
  The room was dirty. (third-person singular past indicative)
  
  We were angry at each other. (plural past indicative)
  
  I wish I were more sure. (first-person singular past subjunctive; was is also common, though considered less correct by some)
  
  If she were here, she would know what to do. (third-person singular past subjunctive; was is also common, though considered less correct by some)
- Being is the gerund and present participle, used in progressive aspectual forms, after various catenative verbs, and in other constructions that function like nouns, adjectivally or adverbially. (It’s also used as a deverbal noun and as a conjunction; see those senses in the entry for being itself.)
  Being in London and being in Tokyo have similar rewards but in different languages. (gerund in grammatical subject)
  
  All of a sudden, he’s being nice to everyone. (present participle in progressive aspect)
  
  His mood being good increased his productivity noticeably. (present participle in adjectival phrase)
  
  It won’t stop being a problem until someone does something about it. (gerund after catenative verb)
- Been is the past participle, used in the perfect aspect. In Middle English, it was also the infinitive.
  It’s been that way for a week and a half.
In archaic or obsolete forms of English, with the pronoun thou, the verb be has a few additional forms:
- When the pronoun thou was in regular use, the forms art, wast, and wert were the corresponding present indicative, past indicative, and past subjunctive, respectively.
- As thou became less common and more highly marked, a special present-subjunctive form beest developed (replacing the regular present subjunctive form be, still used with all other subjects). Additionally, the form wert, previously a past subjunctive form, came to be used as a past indicative as well.
The forms am, is, and are can contract with preceding subjects: I’m (“I am”), ’s (“is”), ’re (“are”). The form are most commonly contracts with personal pronouns (we’re (“we are”), you’re (“you are”), they’re (“they are”)), but contractions with other subjects are possible; the form is contracts quite freely with a variety of subjects. These contracted forms, however, are possible only when there is an explicit, non-preposed complement, and they cannot be stressed; therefore, the contractions cannot appear at the end of a sentence. Instead one must use the full forms, such as:
Who’s here? —I am.

I wonder what it is.
Several of the finite forms of be have special negative forms, containing the suffix -n’t, that can be used instead of adding the adverb not. Specifically, the forms is, are, was, and were have the negative forms isn’t, aren’t, wasn’t, and weren’t. The form be itself does not, even in finite uses, with “not be” being used in the present subjunctive and “do not be” or “don’t be” (or, in dated use, “be not”) being used in the imperative. The form am has the negative forms aren’t, amn’t, and ain’t, but all of these are in restricted use; see their entries for details.
Outside of Standard English, there is some variation in usage of some forms; some dialects, for example, use is or ’s throughout the present indicative (supplanting, in whole or in part, am and are), and/or was throughout the past indicative and past subjunctive (supplanting were).

Alternative forms

bee (obsolete)

Synonyms

(to exist): See also Thesaurus:exist
(used to form passive): get

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

A variant of by which goes back to Middle English be (variant of Middle English bi).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bi/, /bə/, /bɪ/, (Northumberland) /bɛ/

Preposition

(dialectal, possibly dated) Alternative form of by. Also found in compounds, especially oaths, e.g. begorra.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Russian бэ (bɛ).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /beɪ/

Noun

be (plural bes)

The name of the Cyrillic script letter Б / б.

References

Anagrams

EB, Eb

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *bẹðə < *baidā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoydʰ-eh₂ < *bʰeydʰ- (“to persuade”). Compare Old English bād (“pledge, expectation”), Proto-Slavic *bě̄dà, Ancient Greek πείθω (peíthō), Latin foedus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [bɛ]

Noun

be f (plural be, definite beja, definite plural betë)

oath
vow, swearing

Derived terms

përbej
besë
betoj
betohem
bind

References

Balinese

Romanization

Romanization of ᬩᬾ

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be/, [be̞]

Noun

be inan

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Declension

Blagar

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be/

Noun

References

A. Schapper, The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1
Stokhof (1975)

Catalan

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbe]
Rhymes: -e

Noun

be f (plural bes)

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Usage notes

In some dialects of Catalan, the sounds associated with the letter b and the letter v are the same: [b ~ β]. In order to differentiate be and ve in those dialects, the letters are often called be alta (“high B”) and ve baixa (“low V”).

Derived terms

be alta

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic from the sound of a lamb.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈbɛ]
IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈbə]
IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈbe]

Noun

be m (plural bens)

sheep, ram, ewe, lamb; an individual of the species Ovis aries

Hyponyms

anyell
marrà
moltó
ovella

Dorasque

Noun

(Changuena, Chumulu, Gualaca) night

References

Alphonse Louis Pinart, Vocabulario Castellano-dorasque, Dialectos Chumulu, Gualaca Y Changuina (1890)

East Central German

Etymology

From Old High German bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi. Compare German bei.

Preposition

(Erzgebirgisch) at; with; by; near; (close) to

Esperanto

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈbe]
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: '‧be

Interjection

The characteristic cry of a sheep.

Derived terms

Faroese

Noun

be n (genitive singular bes, plural be)

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Declension

Guerrero Amuzgo

Adjective

Hungarian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈbɛ]
Rhymes: -bɛ

Adverb

be (comparative beljebb, superlative legbeljebb)

in (towards the interior of a defined space, such as a building or room)
Antonym: ki

Usage notes

This term may also be part of the split form of a verb prefixed with be-, occurring when the main verb does not follow the prefix directly. It can be interpreted only with the related verb form, irrespective of its position in the sentence, e.g. meg tudták volna nézni (“they could have seen it”, from megnéz). For verbs with this prefix, see be-; for an overview, Appendix:Hungarian verbal prefixes.

Derived terms

Related terms

Anagrams

Iau

Noun

fire

Ido

Etymology

From b +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be/, /bɛ/

Noun

be (plural be-i)

The name of the Latin script letter B/b.

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch bee.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be/, [be]

Noun

bé

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Synonyms

bi (Standard Malay)

Italian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): ^**/ˈbe/^*
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: bé

Noun

be f (invariable)

(regional, obsolete) Alternative form of bi

References

Japanese

Romanization

The hiragana syllable べ (be) or the katakana syllable ベ (be) in Hepburn romanization.

Karajá

Noun

water

References

David Lee Fortune, Gramática Karajá: um Estudo Preliminar em Forma Transformacional

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /beː/, [beː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /be/, [bɛː]

Noun

bē f (indeclinable)

The name of the letter B.

Coordinate terms

(Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

References

Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), part III: “Summary of the Ancient Evidence”, page 32: "Clearly there is no question or doubt about the names of the vowels A, E, I, O, U. They are simply long A, long E, etc. (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Nor is there any uncertainty with respect to the six mutes B, C, D, G, P, T. Their names are bē, cē, dē, gē, pē, tē (each with a long E). Or about H, K, and Q: they are hā, kā, kū—each, again, with a long vowel sound."

Lithuanian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *beź, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰe (instrumental particle) + *-ǵʰs (“out”). Cognate with Proto-Slavic *bez(ъ) (“without”); see there for more cognates.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [bʲɛ]

Preposition

bè (with genitive)

(shows absence of something) without
besides; but, except

Antonyms

References

Malagasy

Adjective

big; great
Antonym: kely
many; numerous

Mandarin

Romanization

Nonstandard spelling of bē.
Nonstandard spelling of bê̄.

Usage notes

Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English bēon.

Verb

Alternative form of been

Etymology 2

From Old English bēo.

Noun

Alternative form of bee

Etymology 3

From Old English bēo, bēom, first-person singular of bēon, from Proto-Germanic *biumi, first-person singular of *beuną.

Verb

first-person singular present indicative of been

Usage notes

Less common than am.

Etymology 4

From Old English bēo, singular subjunctive of bēon.

Verb

singular present subjunctive of been

Descendants

English: be
Scots: be

Etymology 5

From Old English bēo, 2nd-person singular imperative of bēon, from Proto-Germanic *beu, 2nd-person singular imperative of *beuną.

Verb

singular imperative of been

Descendants

English: be
Scots: be

Etymology 6

Old English bēoþ (with the -þ replaced with an -n levelled in from the past and subjunctive, then lost), present plural of bēon (“to be”), from Proto-Germanic *biunþi, third-person present plural of *beuną (“to be, become”).

Alternative forms

been

Verb

plural present of been

Usage notes

The usual plural form of been is aren in the North, been in the Midlands, and beth in the South; sind also existed, especially early on, but was not the predominant form in any area.

Descendants

English: be (obsolete or dialectal as the plural)
Scots: be

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Middle High German wec, from Old High German weg, from Proto-West Germanic *weg, from Proto-Germanic *wegaz (“way, path”). Cognate with German Weg, English way.

Noun

be m

path, way

Derived terms

òlbe

References

“be” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse biðja.

Verb

be (imperative be, present tense ber, passive bes, simple past ba or bad, past participle bedt, present participle beende)

to pray
to ask something of someone

Synonyms

bede

Derived terms

beding

Related terms

bønn

References

“be” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
“be” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

beda
bede

Etymology

From Old Norse biðja. Akin to English bid.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /beː/

Verb

be (present tense ber, past tense bad, supine bede or bedd or bedt, past participle beden or bedd, present participle bedande, imperative be)

to pray
to ask something of someone

Derived terms

beding

Related terms

bøn / bønn

References

“be” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
“be” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Occitan

Pronunciation

Noun

be f (plural bes)

bee (the letter b)

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be/

Preposition

about (concerning)
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies
- late 10th century, Ælfric's Lives of Saints
by, in various senses:
1. near or next to
2. not later than
3. based on, according to
for, in the account of
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "Passion of St.Alban, Martyr"

Old Irish

Alternative forms

(2nd sg. pres. subj.): ba

Verb

second-person singular present subjunctive of is
first/second-person singular future of is

Phalura

Etymology

From Sanskrit वयम् (vayam, “we”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be/

Pronoun

be (personal, Perso-Arabic spelling بےۡ)

we (1pl nom)

References

Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “be”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[2], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “be”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ/
Rhymes: -ɛ
Syllabification: be

Etymology 1

From the phonetic pronunciation of the letter B/b.

Noun

be n (indeclinable)

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Adjective

be (comparative bardziej be, superlative najbardziej be, indeclinable, derived adverb be)

(childish) icky, yucky
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:zły

Adverb

be (comparative bardziej be, superlative najbardziej be)

(childish) icky, yucky

Interjection

(colloquial) used with children to tell them not to touch something, bad! no touchy!
(onomatopoeia) used to imitate the sound of a sheep or ram, baa
Synonym: me

Derived terms

Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

baa (sound made by sheep or goats)

Savi

Etymology

From Sanskrit वयम् (vayam).

Pronoun

we; first-person plural personal pronoun

References

Knobloch, Nina (2020) A grammar sketch of Sauji: An Indo-Aryan language of Afghanistan‎^[3], Stockholm: Stockholm University

Scots

Etymology 1

From Middle English been, from Old English bēon. The various forms have different further etymologies:

The b- forms derive from Proto-Germanic *beuną.
All other forms derive from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną

Cognates include English be.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [bi(ː)], [bɪ]

Verb

to be

Conjugation

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [bə], [bɪ]

Conjunction

Alternative form of by

References

Serili

Noun

water

References

Roger Blench, The Enggano (in notes)
ABVD (as 'bɛ)
ASJP (as bE, representing bɛ)

Slovene

Etymology

Probably from the German name of the letter B (pronounced [beː]).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /béː/

Noun

bẹ̑ m inan

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Inflection

Synonyms

Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

Adjective

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbe/ [ˈbe]
Rhymes: -e
Syllabification: be
Homophone: ve

Etymology 1

Noun

be f (plural bes)

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.
Synonyms: be larga, be alta, be grande, be de burro

Coordinate terms: uve, ve corta, ve baja, ve chica, ve de vaca

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Echoic.

Noun

be m (plural bes)

baa (bleating of a sheep)

Sumerian

Romanization

Romanization of 𒁁 (be)

Swedish

Alternative forms

bedja (archaic)

Etymology

From older bedja, from Old Swedish biþia, from Old Norse biðja, from Proto-Germanic *bidjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰedʰ-. Cognate with Danish bede, Icelandic biðja, English bid, Dutch bidden, German bitten.

Pronunciation

Homophone: B
Rhymes: -eː

Verb

be (present ber, preterite bad, supine bett, imperative be)

to ask for, request someone else to do something
Han bad om ett glas vatten ― He asked for a glass of water

Jag vill be om en tjänst ― I want to ask you a favor

Han bad honom lämna rummet ― He asked him to leave the room
to pray
De satt i kyrkan och bad ― They sat in church, praying
to beg, to plead with someone for help or for a favor
Hjälp mig! Jag ber dig! ― Help me! I beg of you!

Conjugation

Synonyms

bedja (dated for prayer, archaic for other senses)

Related terms

bedjare
bön
ombe
tillbe

References

be in Svensk ordbok (SO)
be in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
be in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish be, the Spanish name of the letter B/b. Ultimately from Latin bē. Doublet of bi.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbe/ [ˈbɛ]
Rhymes: -e
Syllabification: be

Noun

be (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒ) (historical)

the name of the Latin-script letter B/b, in the Abecedario
Synonyms: (in the Filipino alphabet) bi, (in the Abakada alphabet) ba

Tarao

Alternative forms

Noun

bean, beans

References

Chungkham Yashwanta Singh (2002) Tarao Grammar (in Tarao)

Tày

Pronunciation

(Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [ɓɛ˧˧]
(Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [ɓɛ˦˥]

Etymology 1

Cognate with Lao ແບ (bǣ) or ເບ (bē), Tai Dam ꪵꪚ, Zhuang mbe, Saek แบ๋, Thai แบ (bɛɛ).

Verb

be (𬌱)

to spread
be píc ― to spread one's wings
to bulge
to spread out
cần pác be ― A person with a wide mouth
to lie down with one's limbs spread out (from tiredness or laziness)
be nòn tẳm sloai ― to oversleep 'til noon

be nòn quá nâư ― to oversleep the entire morning

Derived terms

pác be

Etymology 2

Noun

carp bream

Derived terms

pja be

References

Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎^[4][5] (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎^[6] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

Turkish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be/

Noun

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

Etymology 2

Noun

Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ب

Etymology 3

From Ottoman Turkish به (be).

Interjection

(very informal) hey there, hey! you! (implying disapproval of the addressee’s actions)
strengthening of the preceding sentence
Bu yük çok ağır be! ― My, this load is very heavy

References

Kélékian, Diran (1911) “به”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[7], Constantinople: Mihran, page 297

Tzotzil

Pronunciation

(Zinacantán) IPA^(key): /ɓɛ/

Noun

road, path, way

References

Laughlin, Robert M. (1975) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Laughlin, Robert M. [et al.] (1988) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of Santo Domingo Zinacantán, vol. I. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛ˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛ˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛ˧˧]

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

wine flask

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French beige.

Adjective

beige
chiếc áo mưa màu be — a beige raincoat

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

To build a mud embankment with one's hands.
To prop up the lip of a sack while topping off the sack, to ensure a more generous quantity.
lấy tay be miệng đấu khi đong đỗ — to surround the top of a measure with one's hands while measuring beans

Đong bình thường, không được be đâu đấy. — Measure it out normally; don't prop up the lip of the sack.

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

To hug a boundary or riverbank.

Etymology 5

Onomatopoeic

Interjection

be • (𠻻, 𠾦)

(onomatopoeia) bleat; baa

Related terms

dê (“goat”)
cừu (“sheep”)

References

"be" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)

West Makian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be/

Noun

water

References

Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[8], Pacific linguistics

Yola

Etymology 1

Verb

Alternative form of ba (“to be”)
Alternative form of ba (“is”)
Alternative form of ba (“are”)
Alternative form of ba (“been”)

Etymology 2

Preposition

Alternative form of bee (“by”)

References

Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867

Zia

Noun

mouth

Zou

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /be˧˩/

Noun

bè

bean

References

Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40

Zulu

Etymology

From -ba (“to be”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɓe/

Verb

-be

(auxiliary) forms continuous tenses [with participial]

Usage notes

In past tenses, this auxiliary is usually contracted.

Ngibe ngihamba → Bengihamba "I was walking." (recent past)

Ngabe ngihamba → Ngangihamba "I was walking." (remote past)

Inflection

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

References

C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “-ɓe”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ɓe”

be

be

Translingual

Etymology

Symbol

See also

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Verb

Usage notes

Conjugation

Alternative forms

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Preposition

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Anagrams

Albanian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

References

Balinese

Romanization

Basque

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

See also

Blagar

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Catalan

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Hyponyms

Further reading

Dorasque

Noun

References

East Central German

Etymology

Preposition

Further reading

Esperanto

Etymology

Pronunciation

Interjection

Derived terms

Faroese

Noun

Declension

See also

Guerrero Amuzgo

Adjective

Hungarian

Pronunciation

Adverb

Usage notes

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Iau