is - synonyms, antonyms, definitions

is

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

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

Translingual

Symbol

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

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English is, from Old English is, from Proto-West Germanic *ist, from Proto-Germanic *isti (a form of Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“is”).

Cognate with West Frisian is (“is”), Dutch is (“is”), German ist (“is”), Yiddish איז (iz, “is”), Afrikaans is (“am, are, is”) Old Swedish är, er, Old Norse er, es.

Further cognates include, among others, Latin est, Ancient Greek ἐστί (estí), Sanskrit अस्ति (asti), Persian (ast), Russian есть (jestʹ), all with the same meaning.

Pronunciation

(UK, US, Canada, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪz/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɘz/
Rhymes: -ɪz

Verb

third-person singular simple present indicative of be
(now colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there (also here and where) when the semantic subject is plural.
(dialectal) present indicative of be; am, are, is.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:is.

Alternative forms

Synonyms

beeth (archaic)
bes (now AAVE)

Derived terms

as-is

Etymology 2

Alternative pronunciation of us.

Pronoun

(Geordie) Alternative spelling of us (“me”).

Etymology 3

From i +‎ -s.

Noun

(rare) Alternative form of i's.

Anagrams

s͞i, Si., S. I., SI, S.I., si, Si

Afar

Etymology 1

Related to Sidamo ise.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈis/ [ˈʔɪs]

Pronoun

ís

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈis/ [ˈʔɪs]

Pronoun

ís

thyself, yourself
himself, herself
(Awash) myself

References

E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “is”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎^[2], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əs/

Verb

am, are, is (present tense, all persons, plural and singular of wees, to be)
Forms the perfect passive voice when followed by a past participle

Bagusa

Noun

woman

References

Mark Donohue, Syntactic and Lexical Factors Conditioning the Diffusion of Sound Change, Oceanic Linguistics 44 (2005), page 428

Bavarian

Alternative forms

isch (South Bavarian, Tyrolean, South Tyrolean)

Etymology

From Middle High German ist, from Old High German ist, from Proto-West Germanic *ist, from Proto-Germanic *isti.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /is/, /iːs/

Verb

third-person singular present indicative of sei

Catalan

Noun

plural of i

Cimbrian

Pronoun

(Sette Comuni) Alternative form of es (“it”)

References

“is” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse íss, from Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈiːˀs/, [ˈiˀs]
Rhymes: -iːs
Rhymes: -iːˀs

Noun

is c (singular definite isen, plural indefinite is)

(uncountable) ice (water in frozen form)
(uncountable) ice, ice cream (dessert, not necessarily containing cream)
(countable) ice, ice cream (ice dessert on a stick or in a wafer cone)

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪs/

Verb

third-person singular present indicative of zijn; is, equals
Twaalf min drie is negen — twelve minus three equals nine

Adverb

(informal, dialect) Clipping of eens.

Anagrams

German

Verb

Alternative form of is'

Gothic

Romanization

Romanization of 𐌹𐍃

Hungarian

Etymology

Doublet of és (“and”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈiʃ]
Rhymes: -iʃ

Adverb

is (not comparable) (clitic)

also, too, as well
Synonyms: szintén, ugyancsak, úgyszintén, éppúgy, (formal; the others are relatively literary in style) szintúgy

Én is szeretem a csokit. ― I, too, like chocolate (aside from other people).

(Én) a csokit is szeretem. ― I also like chocolate (aside from other things).
even, up to, as much as, as long as
Három óráig is tarthat a műtét ― The operation may even take three hours.
(after an interrogative word) again (used in a question to ask something one has forgotten)
Hogy is hívják? ― What's that called, again?
sure enough, indeed
Synonyms: tényleg, valóban, csakugyan

Aznapra esőt mondtak, és el is kezdett esni. ― Rain had been predicted for that day and, sure enough, it was beginning to rain. (literally, “They had said rain for…”)

Usage notes

When it is used with a concessive adverb (“no matter what/who/when/how”, “however [good, bad]”, “long as it was”, “even if…” etc.), it is traditionally placed after the verb, though it is common in colloquial style to use it after the adverb instead:

It applies to verb-final set phrases as well, similarly to érzi magát in this clause: még ha ettől rosszul érezzük is magunkat / …rosszul is érezzük magunkat (“even if it makes us feel bad”).

Derived terms

Iberian

Etymology

Comapre Basque ez, possibly connected to Proto-Basque *eze.

Adverb

References

Villamor, Fernando (2020) A basic dictionary and grammar of the Iberian language

Irish

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Irish os.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪsˠ/, /sˠ/

Conjunction

reduced form of agus (“and; as”)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish is (“is”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪsˠ/, /sˠ/ (before nouns and adjectives)
IPA^(key): /ʃ/ (before the pronouns é, í, ea, iad)

Particle

Present/future realis copula form
Is múinteoir é Dónall. ― Dónall is a teacher. (definition: predicate is indefinite)

Is é Dónall an múinteoir. ― Dónall is the teacher. (identification: predicate is definite)

Is féidir liom snámh. ― I can swim. (idiomatic noun predicate)

Is maith liom tae. ― I like tea. (idiomatic adjective predicate)

Is mise a chonaic é. ― I'm the one who saw him. (compare Hiberno-English "'Tis I who saw him"; cleft sentence)

Is é Dónall atá ina mhúinteoir. ― It's Dónall who is a teacher. (cleft sentence)
Used to introduce the comparative/superlative form of adjectives
an buachaill is mó ― the bigger boy; the biggest boy

Usage notes

Used in the present and future for identification or definition of a subject as the person/object identified in the predicate of the sentence. Sometimes used with noun or adjective predicates, especially in certain fixed idiomatic phrases. Used to introduce cleft sentences, which are extremely common in Irish. It is not a verb.

The copula does not exist in the imperative and does not have a nominal form analogous to the verbal noun. The phrase bí i do (literally “be in your”) is used as the imperative instead (e.g. Bí i d’fhear! – “Be a man!” (lit. “Be in your man!”)), and equivalent non-copular nominal constructions must be used in place of their hypothetical copular equivalents: bheith ábalta (“to be able”, in place of the non-existent nominal form of is féidir), bheith ag iarraidh (“to want”, in place of the non-existent nominal form of is mian), bheith ina (“to be”, as with the imperative), etc.

In comparative/superlative formations, is is strictly speaking the relative of the copula, hence an buachaill is mó literally means "the boy who is biggest", i.e. "the biggest boy". The thing compared is introduced by ná (“than”).

Related terms

Karakalpak

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *īĺč.

Noun

work

References

N. A. Baskakov, editor (1958), “ис”, in Karakalpaksko-Russkij Slovarʹ [Karakalpak-Russian Dictionary], Moscow: Akademija Nauk Uzbekskoj SSR, →ISBN

Kwerba

Noun

woman

References

Mark Donohue, Syntactic and Lexical Factors Conditioning the Diffusion of Sound Change, Oceanic Linguistics 44 (2005), page 428 (used in both Kwerba proper and Anggreso Kwerba)

Lacandon

Etymology

From Proto-Mayan *iihs.

Noun

sweet potato

Derived terms

References

Baer, Phillip, Baer, Mary, Chan Kꞌin, Manuel, Chan Kꞌin, Antonio (2018) Diccionaro maya lacandón (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 51)‎^[3] (in Spanish), Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., pages 65–66

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *is, from Proto-Indo-European *éy. Cognate with Oscan 𐌉𐌆𐌉𐌊 (izik), Umbrian 𐌄𐌓𐌄 (ere), and further with Lithuanian jis, Proto-Slavic *jь.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /is/, [ɪs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /is/, [is]

Pronoun

is (feminine ea, neuter id); demonstrative pronoun

(pronoun) this or that man, woman or thing; he, she, it, they (previously introduced)
1. Picks up the subject or object after an intervening clause, to avoid repeating the relative pronoun quī, or substitutes syntactically fronted expressions
(correlative) that...which; he, she...who, it...that
1. (anaphoric) of such a nature, degree, kind (previously mentioned or implied)
2. (cataphoric) the following; of the following nature, degree, kind
(determiner) this or that [man, woman or thing] (as a noun phrase modifier)
(with genus with nominative or modī with genitive) such a, that sort of
eiusmodī sermōnēs ― talk of that kind
Substituting a clause.
quod eius fierī possit ― as far as [any of that is] possible
1. As an internal accusative: for that reason, on that account
  idque gaudeō ― and I'm glad about that
2. Used in various prepositional phrases.

Usage notes

Latin is is an endophoric pronoun and determiner, which may be employed either as an anaphora or as a cataphora, meaning it serves as a reference to something preceding or following, respectively, in the text. Unlike a demonstrative such as ille or English this, is does not have a deictic function, meaning it cannot point to a referent in the world, but only one named in the text; nor can it be used exophorically as a third-person pronoun such as English (s)he that refers to something not already defined in the context but presumed to be known or deduceable by the addressee. Thus we see it used with first, second and third person.

The exophoric demonstratives/determiners in Latin are hic (proximal, near the speaker), iste (medial, near the listener), and ille (distal, far from both). Note that Latin doesn't have any 3rd-person pronouns, using the aforementioned demonstratives in their place.

Oblique cases are rare in elevated poetry.

Declension

Demonstrative pronoun.

¹The nom./dat./abl. plural forms regularly developed into a monosyllable /iː(s)/, with later remodelling - compare the etymology of deus. This /iː/ was normally spelled as EI during and as II after the Republic; a disyllabic iī, spelled II, Iꟾ, appears in Silver Age poetry, while disyllabic eīs is only post-Classical. Other spellings include EEI(S), EIEI(S), IEI(S).
²The dat. singular is found spelled EIEI (here represented as ēī) and scanned as two longs in Plautus, but also as a monosyllable. The latter is its normal scansion in Classical. Other spellings include EEI, IEI.

Derived terms

idcircō
īdem
ideō

Etymology 2

Inflected form of eō (“go”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /iːs/, [iːs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /is/, [is]

Verb

īs

second-person singular present active indicative of eō

References

is in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Middle Dutch

Verb

third-person singular present indicative of wēsen

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English īs, from Proto-West Germanic *īs.

Alternative forms

ise, yes, yce, yys, ys, ijs, yse, ysz, hyse, hyys, ice, isse, ysse, yis

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /iːs/

Noun

is (uncountable)

ice (frozen water):
1. A layer of frozen water as a surface.
2. (rare) An individual portion of ice.
(rare, figurative) That which is short-lived like ice.
(rare) icy conditions

Derived terms

isykle
Iseland

Descendants

English: ice (see there for further descendants)
Scots: ice

References

“īs, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-15.

Etymology 2

From Old English is, third-person present singular of wesan (“to be”), from Proto-Germanic *isti, third-person present singular of *wesaną (“to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti.

Alternative forms

es, ys, us

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /is/, /iz/

Verb

third-person singular present indicative of been
Synonym: bith

Usage notes

This form is more common than bith for the third-person singular.

Descendants

English: is
Scots: is
Yola: is, ez

Etymology 3

Determiner

Alternative form of his (“his”)

Pronoun

Alternative form of his (“his”)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

Alternative form of his (“her”)

Etymology 5

Pronoun

Alternative form of his (“them”)

Etymology 6

Noun

is (plural isnes)

Alternative form of iren (“iron”)

Navajo

Interjection

as if, as if it were true, it could be, is it really?, what do you mean by that?, so you say expressing surprise

Usage notes

Usually spelled with the final letter repeated: iss, isss, issss.

Alternative forms

as
isdaʼ

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse íss (“ice”), from Proto-Germanic *īsaz, a variant of *īsą (“ice”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- (“ice, frost”).

Noun

is m (definite singular isen, indefinite plural is or iser, definite plural isene)

(uncountable) ice, ice cream
(countable) ice cream on a stick or cone.

Synonyms

iskrem (ice cream)

Derived terms

References

“is” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Anagrams

-is, si

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse íss, from Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-. Akin to English ice.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /iːs/

Noun

is m (definite singular isen, indefinite plural isar, definite plural isane)

ice
ice cream

Synonyms

iskrem (ice cream)

Derived terms

References

“is” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Nyishi

Alternative forms

isi, esi

Etymology

From Proto-Tani *si, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *si.

Noun

water

References

P. T. Abraham (2005) A Grammar of Nyishi Language‎^[4], Delhi: Farsight Publishers and Distributors

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *īsą. See there for more.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /iːs/

Noun

īs n

ice
- the Legend of St Andrew
the runic character ᛁ (/i/ or /i:/)
- The Old English rune poem

Declension

Strong a-stem:

Derived terms

īsċeald
īsiġ
īsearn

Descendants

Middle English: is, ise, yes, yce, yys, ys, ijs, yse, ysz, hyse, hyys, ice, isse, ysse, yis
- English: ice (see there for further descendants)
- Scots: ice

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *ist, from Proto-Germanic *isti (a form of Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“is”).

Alternative forms

ys
ᛁᛋ (is) — Near Fakenham plaque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /is/

Verb

third-person singular present indicative of wesan

Descendants

Middle English: is
- English: is
- Scots: is
- Yola: is, ez

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *īs. Compare Old Saxon īs, Old English īs, Old Norse íss.

Noun

īs

Descendants

Middle High German: īs
- Alemannic German: Iis, Is, Isch
  Alsatian: Iis; Eis (northern)
  
  Italian Walser: isch, éisch
- Bavarian: ais
  Cimbrian: ais
  
  Mòcheno: ais
- Central Franconian: Eis, Ies
  Hunsrik: Eis
  
  Luxembourgish: Äis
  
  Transylvanian Saxon: Ais
- German: Eis
- Rhine Franconian:
  Frankfurt: [ais]
  
  Pennsylvania German: Eis
- Vilamovian: ajs
- Yiddish: אײַז (ayz)

Old Irish

Alternative forms

Etymology

The lemma is itself is from Proto-Celtic *esti, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti; other forms are from either *h₁es- or *bʰuH-.

Verb

to be

For quotations using this term, see Citations:is.

Usage notes

This is the so-called "copula", which is distinct from the "substantive verb" at·tá. The copula is used with noun predicates and to introduce a cleft sentence.

Conjugation

See Appendix:Old Irish conjugation of is for the complete conjugation.

Derived terms

Descendants

Irish: is
Manx: s’
Scottish Gaelic: is

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *it.

Pronoun

is (is)

his, its

Declension

Etymology 2

Verb

third-person singular present indicative of wesan

Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- (“ice, frost”). Cognate with Old Frisian īs (West Frisian iis), Old English īs (English ice), Dutch ijs, Old High German īs (German Eis), Old Norse íss (Danish and Swedish is).

Noun

īs n

ice
The runic character ᛁ (/i/ or /i:/)

Declension

Descendants

Middle Low German: îs
- Low German:
  - German Low German: Ies
    - Plautdietsch: Iess

Old Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *esti. Cognate to Old Irish is.

Verb

is (third person singular present)

to be

Inflection

Listed exhaustively in the Etymological Glossary of Old Welsh are the following conjugated forms:

3rd person singular present: is, iu, oi, hois, hoys
3rd person singular present relative: issi, issid
3rd person singular present negative: nit
3rd person plural present: hint, int
3rd person singular imperfect: hoid, oid
3rd person singular imperfect subjunctive: be
3rd person plural imperfect subjunctive: beinn
3rd person singular present habitual: bi, bid bit
3rd person singular present subjunctive: boi, boit
3rd person singular preterite: bu

Descendants

Welsh: bod (finite forms)

References

Onondaga

Etymology

From Proto-North Iroquoian *iːts.

Pronoun

References

Hanni Woodbury (2018) A Reference Grammar of the Onondaga Language, University of Toronto, page 309

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Rhymes: (Brazil) -is, (Portugal, Rio de Janeiro) -iʃ
Hyphenation: is

Noun

plural of i
- 2003, J. K. Rowling, Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix, Rocco, page 411:
  Se você pôs os pingos nos is e cortou os tês então pode fazer o que quiser!
  If you've dotted your I's and crossed your T's, then you can do whatever you want!

Sardinian

Etymology

From syllabic apocope of issos, issas, from Latin ipsōs, ipsās, masculine and feminine accusative plural forms of ipse (“himself”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /is/

Article

is m pl or f pl (Campidanese)

plural of su: the (masculine plural definite article)
plural of sa: the (feminine plural definite article)

References

Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes
Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964) “ísse”, in Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg

Scots

Adverb

is (not comparable)

(Southern Scots) as

Synonyms

Conjunction

(Southern Scots) as

Synonyms

Pronoun

is (personal, non-emphatic)

(Southern Scots) me

Verb

third-person singular simple present indicative form of be

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əs̪/
IPA^(key): /əʃ/ (before a front vowel sound)
Hyphenation: is

Etymology 1

Clipping of agus (“as well as”). Cognate with Irish is.

Conjunction

Usage notes

Is is often shortened further to 's.

Etymology 2

From Old Irish is. Cognate with Irish is and Manx s'.

Verb

(copulative) am, is, are

Usage notes

Is is often shortened to 's.
Is is used when linking the subject of a sentence with an object ("somebody is somebody", "somebody is something", "something is something"), otherwise forms of the verb bi are used:
Is mise Dòmhnall. ― I am Donald.

Tha mise anns an t-seòmar. ― I am in the room.

Inflection

References

Colin Mark (2003) “is”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 368

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish is, from Old Norse íss, from Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /iːs/, [iːs̪]
Rhymes: -iːs

Noun

is c

(uncountable) ice (frozen water)
(countable) ice (mass of ice, for example a sheet)

Declension

Related terms

References

is in Svensk ordbok (SO)
is in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
is in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
is in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English East.

Noun

East

Turkish

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *ï̄ĺ(č) (“soot, dirty smoke”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈis/

Noun

is (definite accusative isi, plural isler)

soot
fume (solid deposit)
kohl

Declension

Derived terms

islemek

Volapük

Adverb

here

Welsh

Alternative forms

îs (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle Welsh is, from Proto-Celtic *ɸīssu (“under”), from Proto-Indo-European *pedsú, locative plural of *pṓds (“foot”). Cognate with Old Irish ís.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /iːs/
- (South Wales, colloquial also) IPA^(key): /iːʃ/

Adjective

comparative degree of isel: lower
Antonym: uwch

Preposition

lower than, under

Related terms

is- (“sub-”)
(literary): islaw (“beneath”)

Mutation

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian is, from Proto-Germanic *isti (form of *wesaną (“to be”)). Cognate with English is, Dutch is.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪs/

Verb

third person singular indicative of wêze
- 1997, Sjoerd Bottema, "Dwersreed", Trotwaer, vol. 29, no. 5, page 204.

Yola

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English is, es, from Old English is.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪz/, /ɛz/

Verb

is
Synonym: beeth
are
Synonym: yarth

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, page 44

is

is

Translingual

Symbol

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Verb

Quotations

Alternative forms

Synonyms

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 2

Pronoun

Etymology 3

Noun

Anagrams

Afar

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Pronoun

See also

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Pronoun

See also

References

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Verb

Bagusa

Noun

References

Bavarian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Catalan

Noun

Cimbrian

Pronoun

References

Danish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

Adverb

Anagrams

German

Verb

Gothic

Romanization

Hungarian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adverb

Usage notes

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Iberian

Etymology

Adverb

References

Irish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Conjunction

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Particle

Usage notes

Related terms

Karakalpak