beach

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English bache, bæcche (“bank, sandbank”), from Old English beċe (“beck, brook, stream”), from Proto-West Germanic *baki, from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (“brook”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“flowing water”).

Cognate with Dutch beek (“brook, stream”), German Bach (“brook, stream”), Swedish bäck (“stream, brook, creek”). More at batch, beck.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /biːt͡ʃ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /bit͡ʃ/
• Rhymes: -iːtʃ
• Homophone: beech

Noun

beach (plural beaches)

1. The shore of a body of water, especially when sandy or pebbly.
2. A horizontal strip of land, usually sandy, adjoining water.
3. (UK dialectal, Sussex, Kent) The loose pebbles of the seashore, especially worn by waves; shingle.
4. (motor racing, euphemistic) Synonym of gravel trap
5. (sports) A dry, dusty pitch or situation, as though playing on sand.
6. Euphemistic form of bitch (taboo swear word).

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Japanese: ビーチ
• → Punjabi: ਬੀਚ (bīc)
• → Zulu: ibhishi

Translations

Verb

beach (third-person singular simple present beaches, present participle beaching, simple past and past participle beached)

1. (intransitive) To run aground on a beach.
2. (transitive) To run (something) aground on a beach.
3. (of a vehicle) To run into an obstacle or rough or soft ground, so that the floor of the vehicle rests on the ground and the wheels cannot gain traction.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Bache, bache

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English beach.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bitʃ/

Noun

beach m (plural beachs)

1. (Congo) port where goods and passengers embark and debark

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish bech, from Proto-Celtic *beko-, *bikos (compare Middle Welsh beg-egyr, byg-egyr (“drone”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰik-, *bʰoyk- (compare Latin fūcus and, perhaps, Proto-Slavic *bьčela), enlargement of *bʰey- (compare Welsh by-daf (“beehive”), English bee).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʲax/

Noun

beach f (genitive singular beiche, nominative plural beacha)

1. bee (insect)

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “beach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bech”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish bech, from Proto-Celtic *beko-, *bikos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰik-, *bʰoik-, enlargement of *bʰī-, *bʰei-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛx/

Noun

beach m (genitive singular beacha, plural beachan)

1. bee

   Synonym: seillean

2. beehive
3. wasp

   Synonym: speach

Derived terms

Mutation

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “beach”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[1], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “beach”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[2], Stirling, →ISBN, page 31
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bech”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language