bien

bien

1. third-person plural present indicative of bie

From Latin bene (“well”).

bien

1. well
2. a lot, very

• bien de
• bien en tiempu
• nin mal nin bien

• bonu

bien

1. genitive plural of bi

bien c

1. definite singular of bi

Inherited from Middle French bien, from Old French bien, from Latin bene (“well”).

• IPA^(key): /bjɛ̃/
• Rhymes: -jɛ̃

• Audio:

  (file)

bien (invariable, comparative meilleur)

1. good, all right, great
2. good looking, nice

bien (comparative mieux, superlative le mieux)

1. well

   Ça va bien ? ― How's it going? (literally, “It goes well?”)

   Il joue vraiment bien au football.

   He plays soccer really well.

2. indeed; so

   Synonym: alors

   Bien, on peut partir maintenant ?

   So, can we leave now?

3. (followed by de, des, or du) a lot (of)

   Macy Gray a traversé bien des épreuves.

   Macy Gray got through a lot of ordeals.

4. very; really

   C'est bien aimable à vous. ― it's very considerate of you.

   C'est bien beau, mais... ― It's all very well, but...

   Je te trouve bien silencieux aujourd'hui. ― You seem very quiet today.

   Il est bien moche, ce type. Ce type est vraiment moche. ― That guy is really ugly.

   • 2018, Zaz, On s'en remet jamais:

     Est-ce que les parfums s'évaporent, ou restent-ils dans notre tête comme ces étoiles qui brillent encore, mais qui sont bien loin de la fête ?

     Do the perfumes evaporate, or do they stay in our heads like these stars which still shine, but which are very far from the party?

5. (in comparisons) much (more, less, better, etc.)

   Jérémie est bien plus fort que moi.

   Jérémie is much stronger than me.

   bien meilleur que […]

   much better than […]

6. Used to confirm or ask for confirmation

   Tu as bien fermé les fenêtres ?

   Did you make sure to close the windows?

• The sense "very" is of restricted use; bien cannot be used interchangeably with très or fort in all contexts.

• eh bien

• ben

bien m (plural biens)

1. good as opposed to evil
2. a commodity, a good
3. a possession

• bon

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

• béni

bien

1. Rōmaji transcription of びえん

• byen, byén

Inherited from Old Spanish bien from Latin bene (“well”), from Old Latin *duenēd, from duenos (“good”), which gave bonus, from Proto-Italic *dwenos.

• IPA^(key): [bjẽn]

• Audio (Istanbul):

  (file)

bien (Hebrew spelling ביין, plural bienes)

1. good
2. conforming to duty

bien (Hebrew spelling ביין)^[1]

1. well [ca. 1510^[2]]

   Antonym: mal

   Coordinate term: bueno

   • 2002, Aki Yerushalayim‎^[1], numbers 68-72, page 59:

     […] i no digas: fulano es fermozo i yo no, ke bien saves ke deske el ombre es muerto, ke no se kuenta salvo por animalia muerta.

     And don’t say: so and so is handsome and I’m not; you know well that since the man is dead that he doesn’t count except as a dead animal.

bien m (Hebrew spelling ביין, plural bienes)^[1]

1. good; property; possession; assets; wealth; estate
   • 1910, Reuben Eliyahu Israel, Traducsion libera de las poezias ebraicas de Roş Aşana i Kipur‎^[2], Craiova: Institutul Grafic, I. Samitca şi D. Baraş, Socieatate in Comandita, →OCLC, page 9:

     Sus enemigos, sus bienes, le rovaron.
     De su bien si artaron i la espujaron ¹)
     I con croeldades su corason razgaron
     I eia no abandona sus tradisiones.
     Termine la aniada i sus maldisiones.

     Her foes stole her properties. They were satiated with her property, [then] they engaged her, and they cruelly ripped her heart, [yet] she abandoned not her traditions. End the year and its curses.

From Old French bien.

bien

1. well (in a positive way; in a way that meets or exceeds expectations)

• French: bien

• bien on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (bien, supplement)

• bia

bien m or f

1. definite masculine singular of bie

• ben

From Latin bene.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi͡ɛn/
• Rhymes: -en

bien (comparative and superlative mielz or miex)

1. well
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     "Oïl, mout m'an sovient il bien.
     Seneschaus, savez vos an rien?

     Yes, I remember it well
     Seneschal, do you know anything about it?

2. indeed (used for emphasis)

bien oblique singular, m (oblique plural biens, nominative singular biens, nominative plural bien)

1. possession; object of value
2. good (as opposed to evil)

• bon

• Middle French: bien
  • French: bien
• Norman: bein (Jersey), byin (France)
• Walloon: bén

Inherited from Latin bene (“well”), from Old Latin *duenēd, from duenos (“good”), which gave bonus, from Proto-Italic *dwenos.

bien

1. well (efficiently)
   • c. 1200, Almeric, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 79r.:

     La ſegunda es q̃ ſi beuiere om̃e della peſo duna dragma purga melanconia temprada miente ⁊ bien.

     The second is that if one were to drink of it the weight of one drachma, it purges black bile soon and well.

   • ca. 1300, anonymous, Tratado de agricultura de Ibn Bassal:

     E sienpre […] la asy como sienbran la simiente del albafaca. E rrieguen la muy bien.

     And always [missing word] it [i.e. pomegranate, milgrana] in the same way people scatter basil seeds. And water it very well.

• Ladino: bien, byen, ביין
• Spanish: bien

• Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946) “bien”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume I, Chapel Hill, page 76

Inherited from Old Spanish bien, from Latin bene (“well”), Old Latin *duenēd, from duenos (“good”), which gave bonus, from Proto-Italic *dwenos.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbjen/ [ˈbjẽn]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -en
• Syllabification: bien

bien

1. well (adverbial form of bueno)

   Antonym: mal

   Toca bien el piano.

   He plays the piano well.

2. well; fine; okay (state of being satisfied with the status quo)

   hasta aquí todo bien ― so far so good

3. properly
4. willingly
5. (colloquial) very

   Ya es bien tarde.

   It's so late already.

6. as well

   Bien podrías acabar con ello temprano.

   You might as well get it over with early.

bien m or f (masculine and feminine plural bienes)

1. (postpositive, colloquial) well-to-do; affluent; wealthy; upper-class

   Amanda y Carlos vienen de una familia bien.

   Amanda and Carlos come from a well-to-do family.

2. (postpositive, colloquial) exclusive; upscale; high-class

   Las colonias bienes están en las afueras de la ciudad.

   The upscale neighborhoods are in the city suburbs.

bien m (plural bienes)

1. good (as opposed to evil)

   Antonym: mal

   Es por el bien de toda la comunidad.

   It's for the good of the whole community.

2. goodness
3. good; better (substantive)

   para bien o para mal ― for better or for worse

   He vuelto para bien esta vez.

   I’m back for good this time.

4. welfare; benefit

   Lo hice por tu bien ― I did it for your own good

5. (in the plural) goods; property; possessions; assets; wealth; estate
6. (dated) darling

   Despierta, mi bien.

   Wake up, my darling.

• “bien”, 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
• «commodities», en español «materias primas» o «productos básicos» | FundéuRAE

Borrowed from German Biene, English bee.

• IPA^(key): /biˈen/

bien (nominative plural biens)

1. bee
   • 1959, “Lak drenas”, in Volapükagased, number 2, page 7:

     Böd nonik kanitonöv / us lidi in yof e fred; / kriks, biens us vegonsöv / in seil de bled lü bled.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• danüdapük
• küm
• kümam
• kümamüp
• kümön
• musak
• miel
• näsäk
• näsäkav
• näsäkavan
• vesep

From Old Frisian bēn

• IPA^(key): /biə̯n/

bien n (plural biennen, diminutive bientsje)

1. bone
2. leg

• “bien”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011