bes
Translingual
Etymology
Clipping of English Besme.
Symbol
bes
See also
- Wiktionary’s coverage of Besme terms
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English bes.
Pronunciation
Verb
bes
- (now chiefly dialectal) third-person singular simple present indicative of be
- 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:
- She bes there these five yare, an' has sint hoome foor her broother an' sister, the mooney for their passage, an' they bes goone these thra yares.
- 1916, The Windsor Magazine - Volume 44, page 353:
- "An' he bes free times as old as herself," he wailed, " an' ugly as a squid ! But he bes rich — rich as any marchant — an' for the bread an' the fixin's an' the gold she bes takin' 'im."
- 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:
- And she bes white. Now, I bes what they use to call a house nigra. I don't work in no fields. And you know, I likes my color. Sho' not real fair, and not real dark either. I bes just who I be.
- (dialectal, nonstandard) Present tense inflected form of be: am or are.
- 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:
- She bes there these five yare, an' has sint hoome foor her broother an' sister, the mooney for their passage, an' they bes goone these thra yares.
- 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:
- And she bes white. Now, I bes what they use to call a house nigra. I don't work in no fields. And you know, I likes my color. Sho' not real fair, and not real dark either. I bes just who I be.
Usage notes
Into the Early Modern English period, be was still sometimes inflected like regular verbs in the ordinary present indicative (i.e. "they be", in addition to "they are"), although "he bes" was uncommon (compare "he beeth").[1] Today, such inflected forms are limited to the alternate, dynamic / lexical conjugation of be described in its Usage notes.
Synonyms
References
- ^ Henry Sweet, A Primer of Historical English Grammar (1893), page 88: The use of be in the pres. indic. is still kept up in Early MnE: I be, thou beest, they be, etc.; the form he bes is, however, very rare.
Etymology 2
Noun
bes (plural besses)
- (historical, numismatics) A bronze coin of the Roman Republic, worth two thirds of an as.
Etymology 3
Noun
bes
- plural of be (“Cyrillic letter”)
Etymology 4
Noun
bes
- Alternative form of beth (“Semitic letter”).
Anagrams
Aromanian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from Latin vissiō. Compare Romanian băși.
Verb
bes first-singular present indicative (past participle bishitã)
- to fart
Synonyms
Related terms
- bishiri / bishire
- bishit
- bishinã
Balinese
Conjunction
bes (Balinese script ᬩᭂᬲ᭄)
Further reading
- “bes” in Balinese–Indonesian Dictionary [Kamus Bahasa Bali–Indonesia], Denpasar, Indonesia: The Linguistic Center of Bali Province [Balai Bahasa Provinsi Bali].
Catalan
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Noun
bes
- plural of be (“the letter B”)
Etymology 2
Inherited from Latin basium, from Proto-Indo-European *bu. Compare Occitan bais, Spanish beso, Italian bacio.
Noun
bes m (plural besos)
Related terms
Etymology 3
Inherited from Latin versus. Doublet of vers.
Noun
bes m (plural bessos)
Further reading
- “bes”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
- “bes” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Chipewyan
Noun
bes
Cornish
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Brythonic *bɨd, from Proto-Celtic *bitus.
Pronunciation
- (Revived Late Cornish) IPA(key): [beːz]
Noun
bes m (plural besow)
Mutation
| unmutated | soft | aspirate | hard | mixed | mixed after 'th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bes | ves | unchanged | pes | fes | ves |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɛs/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: bes
- Rhymes: -ɛs
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch bes, bese, from Old Dutch besi, from Proto-West Germanic *basi, from Proto-Germanic *basją. Compare English berry, Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍃𐌹 (weinabasi, “grape”).
Noun
bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n or (dialectal) bessie n)
Derived terms
- aalbes
- appelbes
- bessenjenever
- bessensap
- bessenstruik
- blauwe bes
- bosbes
- braambes
- goudbes
- jakhalsbes
- jeneverbes
- kruisbes
- lijsterbes
- loganbes
- rijsbes
- rode bes
- veenbes
- vogelbes
- waterbes
- witte bes
- zwarte bes
Descendants
- Afrikaans: bessie (from the diminutive)
- → Papiamentu: bèshi (from the diminutive)
- → Jersey Dutch: bääśe (from the diminutive)
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n)
Etymology 3
Backformation from besje, from older bestje, from bestemoer or bestemoeder (“grandma, old woman”).
Alternative forms
Noun
bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n)
- (chiefly diminutive) an old woman
- a. 1525, anonymous author, “Lied van de twee koningskinderen”, in Haerlems Oudt Liedt-boeck, 27th edition, published 1716:
- Met een quam daer een besje,
Een oude fenynde bes,- But then there came an old woman,
An old mean hag,
- But then there came an old woman,
Jamaican Creole
Adjective
bes
- superlative degree of gud: best
- 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, 2 Timoti 4:9:
- Du yu bes an mikies kom si mi.
- Do your best and make haste to come see me
Kankanaey
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbəs/ [ˈbɨs]
- Rhymes: -əs
- (parts of Bauko, Sabangan and Tadian) IPA(key): /ˈbəh/ [ˈbɨh]
- Rhymes: -əh
- Syllabification: bes
Noun
bës
- act of looking the clothes of a dead person
Synonyms
| Southern / Central | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mt. Province | Tadian | bes, (Lubon) beh, (Banaao, Cadad-anan, Cagubatan, Dacudac, Lenga, Pandayan) boh |
| Bauko | bes, (Banao, Bila, Otucan) beh | |
| Sabangan | bes, (Tambingan, Supang, Data, Lagan, Losad, Poblacion) bes, (Bun-ayan, Pingad, Bao-angan, Camatagan, Napua, Gayang, Capinitan, Busa, Namatec) beh | |
| Northern / Applai | ||
| Mt. Province | Sagada | bes, (Tanulong) ghes |
Derived terms
References
- Morice Vanoverbergh (1933) “bes”, in A Dictionary of Lepanto Igorot or Kankanay. As it is spoken at Bauco (Linguistische Anthropos-Bibliothek; XII)[1], Mödling bei Wien, St. Gabriel, Österreich: Verlag der Internationalen Zeitschrift „Anthropos“, →OCLC, page 83
Kashubian
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bъzъ.
Etymology
- IPA(key): /ˈbɛs/
- Rhymes: -ɛs
- Syllabification: bes
Noun
bes m inan
Further reading
- Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “bez”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi[2]
- “bes”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022
Latin
Etymology
From a derivative of *duō (“two”) (compare bis) + as.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈbɛs]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈbɛs]
Noun
bes m (genitive bessis); third declension
- two-thirds, or a two-thirds part of any unit
- a coin worth two-thirds of an as
Declension
Third-declension noun (i-stem).
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | bes | bessēs |
| genitive | bessis | bessium |
| dative | bessī | bessibus |
| accusative | bessem | bessēs bessīs |
| ablative | besse | bessibus |
| vocative | bes | bessēs |
Derived terms
References
- bes in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Malay
Etymology
Noun
bes (Jawi spelling بيس, plural bes-bes)
- (chemistry) base, any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds, having bitter taste, that turn red litmus blue, and react with acids to form salts.
Alternative forms
- basa (Indonesian)
Further reading
- “bes” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
Middle English
Etymology
A version of bith with the third-person singular ending replaced with -es as in other verbs (in some dialects) and the vowel of the infinitive been leveled in.
Verb
bes
- alternative form of bith
Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
bes
- passive form of be
Old Irish
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [bʲes]
Verb
bes
Mutation
| radical | lenition | nasalization |
|---|---|---|
| bes | bes pronounced with /βʲ-/ |
mbes |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Papiamentu
Etymology
From Portuguese vez and Spanish vez and Kabuverdianu vés.
Noun
bes
Polish
Pronunciation
Noun
bes m inan
Further reading
- Leon Rzeszowski (1891) “bez”, in “Spis wyrazów ludowych z okolic Żywca”, in Sprawozdania Komisyi Językowej Akademii Umiejętności, volume 4, Krakow: Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, page 353
Serbo-Croatian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *běsъ (“evil spirit”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bêːs/
Noun
bȇs m inan (Cyrillic spelling бе̑с)
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | bȇs | bȅsovi |
| genitive | besa | besova |
| dative | besu | besovima |
| accusative | bes | besove |
| vocative | bese | besovi |
| locative | besu | besovima |
| instrumental | besom | besovima |
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbes/ [ˈbes]
- Rhymes: -es
- Syllabification: bes
- Homophones: ves, (Latin America) vez
Noun
bes m (plural beses)
Noun
bes f pl
- plural of be
Further reading
- “bes”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
Swedish
Verb
bes
Tagalog
Pronunciation
- (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /ˈbes/ [ˈbɛs]
- Rhymes: -es
- Syllabification: bes
Etymology 1
Clipping from English best friend.
Noun
bes (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜐ᜔) (colloquial, women's speech, gay slang)
- endearing term of address for one's friend, especially a close friend or bestfriend: friend; best friend
Usage notes
- The word is typically used by women, and may sound effeminate when used by men.
Related terms
See also
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Spanish vez, from Latin vicis (“change, alternation”). Doublet of beses.
Noun
bes (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜐ᜔) (Cavite)
Western Yugur
| < 4 | 5 | 6 > |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal : bes | ||
Numeral
bes