English Online Dictionary. What means busy? What does busy mean?
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: bĭz'i, IPA(key): /ˈbɪzi/
- Rhymes: -ɪzi
- Hyphenation: bus‧y
Etymology 1
From Middle English bisy, busie, from Old English bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīg (“diligent; zealous; busy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”), Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”). The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɪ/ is from the dialects of the East Midlands.
Adjective
busy (comparative busier, superlative busiest)
- Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.
- Engaged in activity or by someone else; bustling
- Having much work to do; having much to get done.
- Near-synonym: swamped
- Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.
- Officious; meddling.
Synonyms
- swamped
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
busy (plural busies)
- (slang, UK, Liverpool, derogatory) A police officer.
Etymology 2
From Middle English bisien, from Old English bisgian (“to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīgōn. Cognate with Old Frisian bisgia (“to use”).
Verb
busy (third-person singular simple present busies, present participle busying, simple past and past participle busied)
- (transitive, usually reflexive) To make somebody busy or active; to occupy.
Derived terms
- bebusy
- busy around
- forebusy
- overbusy
- unbusy
Translations
References
- “busy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “busy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Anagrams
- buys
Middle English
Adjective
busy
- alternative form of bisy