beeswax

English

Etymology

Beeswax

From bee +‎ -s- +‎ wax.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbiːzwæks/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -iːzwæks

Noun

beeswax (usually uncountable, plural beeswaxes)

A wax secreted by bees from which they make honeycomb; or, the processed form of this wax used in the manufacture of various goods.
(colloquial, mildly humorous) “Business”, as in such phrases as mind your own beeswax and none of your beeswax.

Synonyms

E901 (when used as a glazing agent)

Derived terms

mind your own beeswax

Translations

wax secreted by bees

Arabic: شَمْع الْعَسَل‎ m (šamʿ al-ʿasal)
Armenian: մեղրամոմ (hy) (mełramom)
Assamese: মৌসিটা (mouxita), মম (mom)
Azerbaijani: mum (az), arı mumu
Bashkir: балауыҙ (balawıð)
Belarusian: пчалі́ны воск m (pčalíny vosk)
Bengali: মোম (mom)
Bulgarian: пче́лен во́сък m (pčélen vósǎk)
Catalan: cera d'abella f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 蜜蠟／蜜蜡 (zh) (mìlà), 蜂蠟／蜂蜡 (zh) (fēnglà)
Classical Nahuatl: xīcohcuitlatl
Crimean Tatar: balavuz
Czech: včelí vosk m
Danish: bivoks (da) c or n
Dupaningan Agta: lilen
Dutch: bijenwas (nl) m
Esperanto: abelvakso
Estonian: mesilasvaha (et)
Finnish: mehiläisvaha (fi)
French: cire d'abeille (fr) f
Galician: cera de abella f, borra de abella f, buio (gl) m, morria f
German: Bienenwachs (de) n
Greek: μελισσόκηρος m (melissókiros), μελισσοκέρι (el) n (melissokéri)
Ancient: κηρός m (kērós)
Hindi: मोम (hi) m (mom), मधुमोम m (madhumom)
Hebrew: דונג‎ (he) m (dónag)
Hungarian: méhviasz (hu)
Icelandic: bývax n
Italian: cera d'api
Japanese: 蜜蝋 (ja) (みつろう, mitsurō), 封蝋 (ふうろう, fūrō)
Kazakh: балауыз (balauyz)
Khmer: ក្រមួនឃ្មុំ (krɑmuən khmum)
Korean: 밀랍(蜜蠟) (ko) (millap), 봉랍(蜂蠟) (ko) (bongnap)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: şima (ku) f
Kyrgyz: мом (mom)
Latin: cera f
Latvian: vasks (lv) m
Macedonian: пчелин восок m (pčelin vosok)
Malay: lilin lebah
Middle English: wax
Navajo: tsísʼná bijeeh
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bivoks (no) m
Nynorsk: bivoks m
Ottoman Turkish: بالمومی‎ (balmumu)
Persian: موم‎ (fa) (mum)
Polish: wosk pszczeli (pl) m inan
Portuguese: cera de abelha f
Romanian: ceară de albine (ro) f
Russian: пчели́ный воск m (pčelínyj vosk)
Scottish Gaelic: cèir f, cèir-sheillean f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: восковаринa f, пчелињи восак m
Latin: voskovarina (sh) f, pčelinji vosak m
Sicilian: cira (scn), cira dî lapi
Slovak: včelí vosk m
Slovene: čebelji vosek m
Spanish: cera de abeja f
Sudovian: vaskan
Swedish: bivax (sv) n
Tagalog: pagkit
Tajik: мум (mum)
Tatar: балавыз (tt) (balawız)
Thai: ขี้ผึ้ง (th) (kîi-pʉ̂ng)
Tibetan: པྲ་ཚིལ (pra tshil)
Turkish: bal mumu (tr)
Ukrainian: бджоли́ний ві́ск m (bdžolýnyj vísk)
Urdu: موم‎ m (mom)
Venetian: zèra f
Vietnamese: sáp ong, lạp (vi)
Volapük: bienaväk (vo)

Verb

beeswax (third-person singular simple present beeswaxes, present participle beeswaxing, simple past and past participle beeswaxed)

(transitive) To polish with beeswax.