bi - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

bi

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

Clipping of bisexual and biceps.

• IPA^(key): /baɪ/
• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: bye, buy, by

bi (not comparable)

1. (LGBT, slang) Bisexual.^[1]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bisexual

   Coordinate terms: pan, mono

   I'm straight, but my oldest sister is bi.

2. (LGBT, slang, uncommon) Bigender.

bi (plural bis)

1. (LGBT, slang) A bisexual person.^[1]

   Synonyms: bisexual; see also Thesaurus:bisexual person

   • 1991 October 10, Ken Jones, “Re: Bisexual privilege? (Was Re: Tom Robinson Concert”, in soc.motss‎^[2] (Usenet):

     For some reason, I'm feeling _very_ sensitive to bi-discrimination tonight. I'm really not trying to mock the points being made here, it's just that many of the same arguments can be turned around and used to describe the discrimination that bis face.

2. (bodybuilding, colloquial, uncommon) A biceps muscle.

   You cannot train your back without regard to your tris and bis.

• bi-

From Mandarin 璧 (bì).

• pi (Wade–Giles)

• (UK, US) enPR: bē, IPA^(key): /biː/
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: b, be, Bea, bee

bi (plural bi)

1. A type of jade disk produced in ancient China.

•   Bi (jade) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• IB, ib.

From Proto-Oceanic *biti.

bi

1. to bake

• Lackey, W.J.. & Boerger, B.H. (2021) “Reexamining the Phonological History of Oceanic's Temotu subgroup”, in Oceanic Linguistics.

A short form of bijë, from archaic bilë ("daughter, girl").

bi

1. A friendly exclamation to a person (female).

   Fol bi, Dritë!

   Speak, therefore, Dritë!

2. An exclamation of surprise (to a female person).

   Bi! Po ç'është kjo?

   Girl! What is this?

   Po ç'është kjo, bi?

   What is this, girl?

• bre
• brez
• pra

bi

1. today

• kunùn
• sini

• biga, bida (Navarrese, Navarro-Lapurdian)

Probably from Proto-Basque *biga (“two”), given the fact that dialectal forms like biga and bida (with *-g- > -d-) are phonetically more conservative.^[1][2] Often compared with Iberian bi (“two”).^[3]

• IPA^(key): /bi/ [bi]
• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: bi

bi

1. two

• This number can appear after the noun, especially in Biscay; but, just like all other numerals apart from bat, it is much more commonly placed before the noun.

• “bi”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005
• “bi”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
• Azkue, Resurrección María de (1905–1906) “bi”, in Diccionario vasco-español-francés = Dictionnaire basque-espagnol-français [Basque-Spanish-French Dictionary], volume 1 (overall work in Spanish and French), Bilbao, page 162

From English bee.

bi

1. bee

bi

1. to die

• IPA^(key): [bì]

bì

1. bin for grain storage

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥iˀ]
• Rhymes: -iː

From Old Norse bý, from Proto-Germanic *bijō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰey-. Cognate with English bee.

bi c (singular definite bien, plural indefinite bier)

1. bee

• hveps c

Borrowed from Middle Low German bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, around”). Related to English by and German bei.

bi

1. by

• Only in certain fixed phrases that are borrowed from German, like stå bi (German beistehen).

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

bi

1. imperative of bie

From Proto-Mongolic *bi (“I”). Compare Mongolian би (bi).

• IPA^(key): /pi/

bi (Xiaojing spelling بی)

1. I (first-person singular personal pronoun)

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-bəj-n/k.

bi

1. to give

• Ross Perlin (2019) A Grammar of Trung‎^[3], Santa Barbara: University of California

Clipping of biseksueel.

• IPA^(key): /bi/
• Hyphenation: bi
• Rhymes: -i

bi (invariable, comparative meer bi, superlative meest bi)

1. (colloquial) bisexual

From English bi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi/, [ˈbi]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbiː/, [ˈbiː]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification^(key): bi

bi (colloquial)

1. bi (bisexual)

• “bi”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

From bisexuel, or possibly directly from English bi.

• IPA^(key): /bi/

bi m or f by sense (plural bis)

1. bi, bisexual person

bi (invariable)

1. bi, bisexual

• “bi”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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

• IPA^(key): [biː]

bi (strong nominative masculine singular bier, not comparable)

1. (informal) bi

bi

1. Romanization of 𐌱𐌹

bi

1. green

• IPA^(key): [ˈbì]

bi

1. wind

• be (obsolete, regional)

From Latin bē (the name of the letter B).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi/
• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: bì

bi f (invariable)

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

• (Latin-script letter names) lettera; a, bi, ci, di, e, effe, gi, acca, i, gei / i lunga, cappa, elle, emme, enne, o, pi, cu, erre, esse, ti, u, vu / vi, doppia vu, ics, ipsilon / i greca, zeta

bi

1. The hiragana syllable び (bi) or the katakana syllable ビ (bi) in Hepburn romanization.

From Sanskrit बीज (bīja), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bíHȷ́am. Cognate with Konkani बी (bī) and Parachi bīz (“seed-corn”).

bi

1. seed
2. semen
3. moth larva

• bíyak

From Proto-Mongolic *bi. Compare Mongolian би (bi) and Dongxiang bi.

bi

1. I

bi

1. water

• C. L. Voorhoeve, 1975. Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, p.108
• Bill Palmer, editor (2018), The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide, Padua: De Gruyter Mouton, →OCLC, page 457

From Old Saxon bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

• IPA^(key): /biː/

bi

1. at, with

   Bi us is dat ümmer Feest.

   With us it's always a party.

2. by

   Wi wahnt in en Huus bi de Meer.

   I live in a house by the lake.

3. around, about (often in combination with üm)

   Dat weer üm bi so'n twintig Johr vör.

   It was about twenty years ago.

bi

1. alongside, with
2. in order to adjust or improve

• IPA^(key): /bɪ/

bi

1. Alternative form of b’: used before a consonant cluster

bi

1. Romanization of ᠪᡳ

bi

1. Nonstandard spelling of bī.
2. Nonstandard spelling of bí.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bǐ.
4. Nonstandard spelling of bì.

• 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.

Inherited from Old Polish by.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi/
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: bi

bi

1. forms the conditional mood; would, would've
2. kind of; sort of

bi

1. (conditional) if
2. creates a subordinate clause expressing aim or purpose, one's goal; to, so that, for that, in order to
3. (comparative) as if
4. (repeated) or... or

• Zofia Stamirowska (1987-2024) “by”, in Anna Basara, editor, Słownik gwar Ostródzkiego, Warmii i Mazur, volume 1, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, →ISBN, pages 253-254

From Old Dutch bi, from Proto-West Germanic *bī.

• IPA^(key): /biː/

bi

1. by, near, around
2. beside, alongside
3. at, with
4. among
5. during
6. by (the work of)
7. because of

• Dutch: bij
• Limburgish: bie

bi

1. by, near, around

• Dutch: bij
• Limburgish: bie

• “bi (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “bi (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “bi”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

bi

1. Alternative form of by

bi

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ber: I saw.

   • 2011, Ana Afonso, L Princepico Chapter 1:

     Quando you tenie seis anhos, bi ua beça ua eimaige mi guapa nun lhibro subre la floresta birge que se chamaba "Stórias Bibidas".

     • 1948 translation by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

       Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest.

• IPA^(key): [bi˧]
• Hyphenation: bi

bi

1. (intransitive) to go

• Štěpán Pavlík (2017) The Description of Namuzi Language‎^[5], Prague: Charles University (PhD Thesis), page 50

bi f

1. (Mooring) bee

From Proto-Iranian *pati-.

• Rhymes: -ɪ

bi

1. by
2. with

bǐ

1. we (first-person plural pronoun)

From Proto-West Germanic *bī.

• IPA^(key): /biː/

bī

1. by, near
2. at, with

• Middle Dutch: bi
  • Dutch: bij
  • Limburgish: bie

• “bī”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

• be

From Proto-West Germanic *bī (“near, by, around, about”).

• IPA^(key): /biː/

bī

1. about (concerning)
2. by, in various senses:
   1. near or next to
   2. not later than
   3. based on, according to

• Middle English: by, be, bi
  • English: by
    • → Mandarin: by (bāi), BY (bāi)
  • Scots: by, bye, bi', be, b'
  • Yola: bee, bie, be, by

From Proto-West Germanic *bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi, whence also Old English bi.

bī

1. by
2. at

• Alemannic German:
  • Alsatian: bii
• German: bei
• Vilamovian: by
• Yiddish: בײַ (bay)

From Proto-West Germanic *bī, whence also Old English bi.

bī

1. by, near, to
2. beside

• Low German: bi, by

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

• IPA^(key): /bi/

bi (discourse, Perso-Arabic spelling بیۡ)

1. also, too
2. else, at all
3. even

• Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[6], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

• Rhymes: -i

bi (invariable)

1. (LGBT, colloquial) Abbreviation of bissexual (“sexually attracted to persons of either sex”).

bi m or f by sense (plural bis)

1. (LGBT, colloquial) Abbreviation of bissexual (“bisexual person”).

bi f (plural bis)

1. (Brazil, LGBT, slang) Abbreviation of bicha (“flammer”).

From Latin ibi.

bi (adverbial)

1. there (at a place)
2. there, thither (to there)

   Synonyms: i, nche

bi

1. by

From Old Irish bí. Cognate with Irish bí and Manx bee.

• IPA^(key): /pi/, lengthened to /piː/ when emphatic.
• Hyphenation: bi

bi (past bha, future bidh, verbal noun bhith)

1. (copulative) to be
2. (intransitive) to exist
3. (auxiliary) Used with air to form various tenses with perfect meaning

• beò

• Colin Mark (2003) “bi”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 75
• Edward Dwelly (1911) “bi”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[7], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN

bi

1. second-person singular aorist of biti

   On bi tamo jučer. (archaic)

   He was there yesterday.

2. third-person singular aorist of biti

   On bi u školi tad. (archaic)

   She was at school then.

3. (colloquial, conditional) aorist of biti; would

   Ja bi također išao da mogu. ― I would go as well if I could.

   Je li bi htio ići s nama? ― Would you like to go with us?

   Ivana bi htjela ići s nama. ― Ivana would like to go with us.

   Mi/Oni bi voljeli jednog dana posjetiti Japan. ― We/They would like to visit Japan one day.

   Voljeli bi jednog dana posjetiti Japan. ― We/They would like to visit Japan one day.

• In colloquial Serbo-Croatian, bi is commonly used in place of other aorist forms when forming conditional of biti in both singular and plural if the subject is deducible from context (usually from the conjugated form of the verb). That is, bi is a shared shorthand for bih, bismo, biste and biše.

From Proto-Tungusic *bi. Cognate with Evenki би (bi) and Manchu ᠪᡳ (bi).

• IPA^(key): /bi/

bi

1. I

From Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

-bí

1. bad
2. evil
3. ugly

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

bi (invariable)

1. bi (bisexual)

From Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

-bí

1. bad
2. evil
3. ugly

• IPA^(key): /biː/
• Rhymes: -iː

From Old Swedish bī, bȳ, from Old Norse bý, from Proto-Germanic *bijō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰī-.

bi n

1. bee

   Bin producerar honung

   Bees produce honey

• More rare spellings of the definite forms are bit/bits (singular) and bien/biens (plural). However, the spellings in the inflection box are the most common.
• See the usage notes for geting (“wasp”) for a note on bee stings.

• bikupa (“beehive”)
• biodlare (“beekeeper”)
• biodling (“beekeeping”)
• bisvärm (“swarm of bees”)
• blommor och bin (“birds and bees”)

• bålgeting c
• geting c (“wasp”)
• humla c (“bumblebee”)

bi

1. (informal) bisexual

   Synonym: bisexuell

• hetero
• homo

bi (not comparable)

1. (in some fixed expressions) by

• stå någon bi

• bi in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bi in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bi in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

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

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /bi/ [bɪ]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: bi

bi (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒ)

1. the name of the Latin-script letter B/b, in the Filipino alphabet

   Synonyms: (in the Abakada alphabet) ba, (in the Abecedario) be

• (Latin-script letter names) titik; ey, bi, si, di, i, ef, dyi, eyts, ay, dyey, key, el, em, en, enye, en dyi, o, pi, kyu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dobolyu, eks, way, zi

• “bi”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

bi (plural mabi)

1. egg

From English bee.

bi

1. bee

From Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

• IPA^(key): /βi/

-bi (declinable)

1. bad

   Antonym: -rungi

2. hideous, ugly

   Synonym: -rofu (“dirty, ugly”)

   Antonyms: -ecumi (“clean, pretty”), -rungi (“pretty”)

• kubi (“badly, in a bad way”)

• -biiha (“to become bad; to be ugly; to deceive”)

• Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎^[8], Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, page 377

• IPA^(key): /bi/

bi

1. Alternative spelling of bi'

bi

1. Alternative spelling of bi'

bi

1. Alternative spelling of bi'

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓi˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɪj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɪj˧˧]

Borrowed from French bille (“marble, ball”).

(classifier cục, hòn, viên) bi

1. a marble (spherical ball)

   bắn bi ― to shoot marbles

2. (billiards, snooker) a ball

   bi cái ― a cue ball

3. (slang) a ball (testicle)

   Á! Dập bi tao rồi!

   Ow! My bawlls popped!

Probably from French bille (“tree log, trunk”).

(classifier cái) bi

1. big concrete sewer
2. (by extension) a type of water tank made from concrete

bi

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 悲

bi

1. because

• IPA^(key): /biː/
• Rhymes: -iː

bi f (plural biau)

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

This word cannot be mutated.

• (Latin-script letter names) llythyren; a, bi, ec, èch, di, èdd, e, èf, èff, èg, eng, aetsh, i / i dot, je, ce, el, èll, em, en, o, pi, ffi, ciw, er, rhi, ès, ti, èth, u / u bedol / u gwpan, fi, w, ecs, y, sèd

From Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

-bí

1. bad
2. evil
3. ugly

• (high-tone): IPA^(key): /bí/
• (mid-tone): IPA^(key): /bī/
• (low-tone): IPA^(key): /bì/

bí

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

• (Latin-script letter names) lẹ́tà; á, bí, dí, é, ẹ́, fí, gí, gbì, hí, í, jí, kí, lí, mí, ní, ó, ọ́, pí, rí, sí, ṣí, tí, ú, wí, yí

bí

1. (conditional) if

• bí ẹnipé

bí

1. (subordinating conjunction) how

   Wọ́n kọ́ wa bí a ti lè ṣe é.

   They taught us how to do it.

2. Alternative spelling of bíi (“like, as”)

bí

1. when, as soon as

   Bí a ti jáde ni wọ́n dé.

   As soon as we left, they arrived.

bí

1. subordinating conjunction used solely with intensifiers such as àfi, àyàmọ̀, àyàṣe, and àdàmọ̀

bí

1. question marker that can be used at the end of a yes-no question

   Ẹ̀yin lọ bí? ― Did you go?

Cognate with Igala bí (“to give birth to”)

• bẹ́ (Ìjẹ̀bú)

bí

1. (transitive) to give birth to

   Ọmọ mẹ́rin l'ó bí.

   She gave birth to four children.

2. (intransitive) to increase

bí

1. (with inú) to be angry

   Synonym: bínú

   Inú ń bí mi ― I'm angry

• bínú (“to be angry”)

Likely cognate with Igala bi (“to beg for; to pray for”)

bi

1. (transitive) to ask, to interrogate

   Mo bi í nípa àwọn ọ̀rẹ́ rẹ̀.

   I asked him about his friends.

• bi léèrè
• bèèrè

bi

1. (transitive) to push, to jostle

bi

1. (transitive) to cause one to gain an evil reward for a prior evil committed

bì

1. (transitive) to vomit, to throw up

   Synonyms: dà, pọ̀

bi

1. Alternative form of bì (“to vomit”) used before object nouns

   Ó ti bi oúnjẹ rẹ̀.

   He's thrown up his food.

• bíbì, èbíbì, èébì, ìbì

bì

1. (intransitive) to sway, to push back

• IPA^(key): /bi/

bi

1. water

• Ehret, Christopher (2001) A Historical-Comparative Reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan (SUGIA, Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika: Beihefte; 12)‎^[9], Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, →ISBN, →ISSN.
• Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /pi˨˦/
• Tone numbers: bi¹
• Hyphenation: bi

From Proto-Tai *piːᴬ (“year”). Cognate with Thai ปี (bpii), Northern Thai ᨸᩦ, Lao ປີ (pī), Lü ᦔᦲ (ṗii), Shan ပီ (pǐi), Tai Nüa ᥙᥤ (pi), Phake ပီ (pī), Ahom 𑜆𑜣 (pī), Bouyei bil.

bi (Sawndip forms 𭯌 or 𭽨 or 𭙂, 1957–1982 spelling bi)

1. year

   Synonym: nienz

2. year old

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

bi (1957–1982 spelling bi)

1. (intransitive) to swing; to sway; to rock
2. (transitive) to swing; to rock; to wag
3. to swing (on a swing)

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ɓuu, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pru(w). Cognates include Mandarin 胞 (bāo, “womb”).

• IPA^(key): /bǐ/
• Hyphenation: bi

bí

1. nest

• Philip Thanglienmang (2014) “Zou Tonology”, in Indian Linguistics, volume 75, numbers 1-2, →ISSN

From Proto-Bantu *-bɪ́ɪ̀.

-bí

1. bad
2. evil
3. ugly

• -bana
• isibi
• okubi
• ububi