bah
English
Etymology 1
Early 19th century, probably borrowed from French bah.
Alternative forms
- baugh (archaic)
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /bæ/, /bɑː/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -æ, -ɑː
- Homophones: baa, bar (in some pronunciations)
Interjection
bah
- (sometimes humorous) Expressing contempt, disgust, or bad temper.
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Brækstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 301:
- "To the doctor's? Bah!" said the sorceress, and spat upon the floor.
- 1992, April Kihlstrom, Dangerous Masquerade:
- Templeton looked over the assembled servants speculatively, then shrugged. "Bah!" he said. "They're of no use to me. Come, Andrew, a word with you upstairs."
-
Synonyms
- (expressing contempt): pht, feh, meh, pooh, pshaw, poh, pish; see also Thesaurus:bah
- (expressing disgust): bleh, ick, ych a fi; see also Thesaurus:yuck
Derived terms
- bah humbug
- pooh-bah, poobah
Translations
|
Alternative forms
- baa
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /bɑː/
- Rhymes: -ɑː
- Homophones: baa, bar (in some pronunciations)
Noun
bah (plural bahs)
- Alternative spelling of baa (the cry of a sheep or goat).
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:
- `There, cut his throat quick. Where is the saucer?' `The Goat! the Goat! the Goat! Give me the blood of my black goat! I must have it, don't you see I must have it? Oh! oh! oh! give me the blood of the goat.' At this moment a terrified bah! announced that the poor goat had been sacrificed, and the next minute a woman ran up with a saucer full of blood.
-
Etymology 3
From Mandarin 吧 (ba).
Particle
bah
- (Singlish) Used to express emphasis.
See also
- sis boom bah
Anagrams
- ABH, AHB, BHA, HAB, HBA, Hab, Hab., hab
Dutch
Etymology
Exclamatory
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɑ/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: bah
Interjection
bah
- An exclamation of disapproval, contempt or disgust: bah, yuck
French
Etymology
Not well-attested in texts, but of imitative origin nevertheless, similar to bayer (“to gape”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ba/
Audio (file)
Interjection
bah
- No.
- Bah, bah, bah !
- No, no, no!
- An exclamation to fill space, often used as an intensifier; well, err, um
- Synonym: ben
- Tu veux jouer aussi ? ― Bah, ouais.
- Do you want to play too? ― Well, yeah.
Further reading
- “bah”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- hab
German
Alternative forms
- bäh
Etymology
Exclamatory
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ba(h)/, /baː/, /ba.aː/
Audio (file)
Interjection
bah
- an exclamation of disgust: yuck, etc.
- Synonyms: igitt, iiih, pfui, üäh
Indonesian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈbah]
- Hyphenation: bah
Etymology 1
From Malay bah, from Proto-Malayic *baah, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *baah, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *baah, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bahaq, from Proto-Austronesian *baSaq.
Noun
bah (first-person possessive bahku, second-person possessive bahmu, third-person possessive bahnya)
- flood.
- Synonym: banjir
Derived terms
- bah betina
- bah jantan
Etymology 2
From Dutch bah.
Interjection
bah
- an exclamation of scorn, disgust, contempt
Etymology 3
From Malay bah.
Interjection
bah
- an exclamation of intimacy
Further reading
- “bah” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Italian
Etymology
Exclamatory
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈba/, which may be followed by [h] or [ʔ] or trigger syntactic gemination[1].
- Rhymes: -a
- Hyphenation: bah
Interjection
bah
- indicates astonishment, resignation and despise; usually used after noticing or hearing something you don't like or you don't know what to think about, to avoid commenting or giving an answer to a question
See also
- mah
References
- bah in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Further reading
- bah in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Malay
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bah/
- Rhymes: -bah, -ah
Etymology 1
From Proto-Malayic *baah, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *baah, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *baah, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bahaq, from Proto-Austronesian *baSaq.
Alternative forms
- به
Noun
bah (Jawi spelling به, plural bah-bah)
- flood (overflow of water)
Synonyms
- banjir / بنجير
Descendants
- Indonesian: bah
Etymology 2
Shortened form of abah, from Proto-Malayic *aba-h, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *aba-h, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *aba-h, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aba, from Proto-Austronesian *aba.
Alternative forms
- abah
- aba
- ابه
- اب
- به
Noun
bah (Jawi spelling به)
- Alternative form of abah
Etymology 3
Shortened form of babah, from baba, variant of bapa.
Alternative forms
- bapa
- baba
- babah
- bapanda
- bapai
- bapak
- bapang
- papa
- باڤ
- بابا
- بابه
- به
- باڤندا
- باڤاي
- باڤق
- باڤڠ
- ڤاڤ
Noun
bah (Jawi spelling به)
- Alternative form of bapa
Etymology 4
Abbreviation of bahasa, from Sanskrit भाषा (bhāṣā, “language”).
Alternative forms
- bahasa
- بهاس
- به
Noun
bah (Jawi spelling به)
- Abbreviation of bahasa.
Etymology 5
Shortened form of bawah, from Proto-Malayic *babah, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *babah, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *babah, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *babaq, from Proto-Austronesian *babaq.
Alternative forms
- bawah
- باوه
- به
Preposition
bah (Jawi spelling به)
- Alternative form of bawah
Min Nan
| For pronunciation and definitions of bah – see 肉 (“meat; flesh”). (This character, bah, is the Pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 肉.) |
Portuguese
Interjection
bah!
- (Rio Grande do Sul) Alternative form of bá
Simalungun Batak
Noun
bah
- water
- river
References
- Zufri Hidayat et al. (2015). Kamus Bahasa Simalungun–Indonesia (2nd ed.). Medan: Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sumatera Utara, p. 18.
Spanish
Etymology
Possibly from Latin vāh.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈba/ [ˈba]
- Rhymes: -a
Interjection
bah
- indicates disdain or unbelief
See also
- qué va
Further reading
- “bah”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Zou
Verb
bah
- bet
References
- http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2013/zouphonologyfinal.pdf