beige

See also: Beige and bēigé

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (“color of undyed wool or cotton”), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (“dull grey”)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (“cottony grey”) (compare French bis, Catalan bis, Italian bigio), from Late Latin byssus (“cotton”), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, “cotton homespun”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ‎ (būṣ)). Doublet of bice.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪʒ/, /ˈbeɪd͡ʒ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -eɪʒ, -eɪdʒ

Noun

beige (countable and uncountable, plural beiges)

A slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.
beige:
Debeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods.

Translations

colour

Afrikaans: beige
Albanian: bezh
Arabic: بِيج‎ (bīj)
Hijazi Arabic: بِيج‎ (bēj)
Armenian: բեժ (hy) (bež)
Azerbaijani: bej
Bambara: bɔ́gɔji
Bengali: বেইজ (beij)
Bulgarian: бежов цвят m (bežov cvjat)
Burmese: အဝါနုရောင်ရှိသော (a.wanu.raunghri.sau:)
Catalan: beix (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 米黃／米黄 (zh) (mǐhuáng), 米色 (zh) (mǐsè)
Czech: béžový (cs) m
Danish: beige
Dutch: beige (nl)
Esperanto: flavgriza, beĵa
Estonian: beež
Faroese: ljósbrúngulur
Finnish: beesi (fi), beige (fi)
French: beige (fr)
Galician: beis, beixe m or f
Georgian: ბეჟი (beži), ჩალისფერი (čalisperi), კრემისფერი (ḳremisperi), ქარვისფერი (karvisperi), მოთეთრო-მოყვითალო (motetro-moq̇vitalo), ქარცი (karci), ბაცი (baci), ბაცი ყავისფერი (baci q̇avisperi), ხორცისფერი (xorcisperi)
German: Beige (de) n
Greek: μπεζ (el) n (bez)
Hindi: बेज (bej), बेझ़ (beź)
Hungarian: bézs (hu)
Icelandic: ljósbrúnn, grábrúnn, drappaður
Ido: beja (io)
Igbo: edo edo
Indonesian: krem (id)
Irish: béas
Italian: beige (it)
Japanese: ベージュ (bēju)
Khmer: បន៍ត្នោតខ្ចី (b tnaot khchei)
Korean: 베이지 (beiji)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: bej (ku)
Louisiana Creole French: bèj
Macedonian: беж f (bež)
Malagasy: beg (mg)
Malay: krim (ms), kuning air
Maltese: bexx
Maori: kirīmi
Nepali: बेज (bej)
Persian: بژ‎ (fa) (bež)
Polish: beżowy (pl)
Portuguese: bege (pt)
Romanian: bej (ro) n
Russian: беж (ru) (bež)
Rwanda-Rundi: bije
Samoan: ena
Serbo-Croatian: bež (sh) m
Slovak: béžový
Somali: midab beej
Spanish: beis (es) m, beige (es) m
Swedish: beige (sv)
Tagalog: murang kayumanggi
Tajik: каҳваранг (kahvarang)
Tetum: krem
Turkish: bej (tr)
Uzbek: sargʻish (uz), bej
Vietnamese: be (vi), màu be
Welsh: lliw gwlanen, llwydfelyn
West Frisian: bêzje
Yoruba: alagara

Adjective

beige (comparative beiger or more beige, superlative beigest or most beige)

Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.
Synonyms: bland, indistinct, colorless, drab
- 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 24, in Crime out of Mind‎:
  Dagobert had only one customer, an American who wore square, rimless glasses and a beige suit and looked like a Wall Street tycoon.
- 2006 November 23, Michel Marriott, “When Beige Won’t Do”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:
  Mr. Lauwaert of Sony said he realized that most consumers were not going to buy computers that cost far more than discount beige boxes.
(informal, originally US) Comfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia.
Synonyms: bland, tedious
- 2007, Prairie L. Markussen, Cover, page 48:
  Think about it: he grew up in Iowa, the beigest of states, was doted on, loved generously by his parents, the top of his class, probably voted Most Handsome of 2000.
- 2010, Gerald J. McCarthy, A Man of Substances:
  In the beigest parts of suburbia where I grew up, bridge was a game played by groups of parents in recreation rooms furnished with upright pianos and souvenir sombreros.
- 2013 March 25, Eric Asimov, “A Beige Wine for a Beige Meal”, in NYT Diner’s Journal Blog‎:
  For a meal of relentlessly beige food, may I suggest the beigest of wines? That would be chardonnay, which will go beautifully with Melissa Clark’s chicken potpie.
- 2016, Penelope Garcia, “The Witness”, in Criminal Minds, season 11, episode 2:
  He has no criminal record. He has no traffic tickets. His social media posts are just like... he's beige.

Derived terms

Beige Book
beige box
beige fat
beige prose

Translations

having a slightly yellowish gray colour

Afrikaans: beige
Arabic: بِيج‎ (bīj)
Hijazi Arabic: بيج‎ (bēj)
Bulgarian: бе́жов (béžov)
Catalan: beix (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 米黃／米黄 (zh) (mǐhuáng), 米色 (zh) (mǐsè)
Czech: béžový (cs)
Finnish: beesi (fi)
French: beige (fr)
German: beige (de)
Hungarian: bézs (hu)
Irish: béasa
Italian: bigio (it)
Japanese: ベージュ (bēju)
Kazakh: сарғыш (sarğyş)
Louisiana Creole French: bèj
Malay: kuning air
Polish: beżowy (pl), beż (pl) m
Portuguese: bege (pt)
Romanian: bej (ro)
Russian: бе́жевый (ru) (béževyj)
Spanish: beis (es)
Welsh: lliw gwlanen, llwydfelyn

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch beige, from French beige.

Pronunciation

Audio (file)

Adjective

beige (attributive beige, comparative beiger, superlative beigeste)

beige

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French beige, from Middle French beige, from Old French bege.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɛːʒə/
audio (file)
Hyphenation: bei‧ge

Adjective

beige (comparative beiger, superlative meest beige or beigest)

beige

Inflection

Inflection of beige
uninflected	beige
inflected	beige
comparative	beiger
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		beige	beiger	het beigest het beigeste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	beige	beigere	beigeste
	n. sing.	beige	beiger	beigeste
	plural	beige	beigere	beigeste
definite		beige	beigere	beigeste
partitive		beiges	beigers	—

Derived terms

beigeachtig

Finnish

Alternative forms

beesi, bees

Etymology

Borrowed from French beige.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbei̯ɡe/, [ˈbe̞i̯ɡe̞]
IPA^(key): /ˈbeːʒi/, [ˈbe̞ːʒi]
Rhymes: -eiɡe
Syllabification^(key): bei‧ge

Adjective

beige (comparative beigempi, superlative beigein)

beige

Declension

Inflection of beige (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		beige	beiget
genitive		beigen	beigejen
partitive		beigeä	beigejä
illative		beigeen	beigeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		beige	beiget
accusative	nom.	beige	beiget
accusative	gen.	beigen	beiget
genitive		beigen	beigejen beigein^rare
partitive		beigeä	beigejä
inessive		beigessä	beigeissä
elative		beigestä	beigeistä
illative		beigeen	beigeihin
adessive		beigellä	beigeillä
ablative		beigeltä	beigeiltä
allative		beigelle	beigeille
essive		beigenä	beigeinä
translative		beigeksi	beigeiksi
instructive		—	beigein
abessive		beigettä	beigeittä
comitative		—	beigeine

Possessive forms of beige (type nalle)
Rare. Only used with substantive adjectives.
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	beigeni	beigemme
2nd person	beigesi	beigenne
3rd person	beigensä

Noun

beige

beige (color)

Declension

Inflection of beige (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		beige	beiget
genitive		beigen	beigejen
partitive		beigeä	beigejä
illative		beigeen	beigeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		beige	beiget
accusative	nom.	beige	beiget
accusative	gen.	beigen	beiget
genitive		beigen	beigejen beigein^rare
partitive		beigeä	beigejä
inessive		beigessä	beigeissä
elative		beigestä	beigeistä
illative		beigeen	beigeihin
adessive		beigellä	beigeillä
ablative		beigeltä	beigeiltä
allative		beigelle	beigeille
essive		beigenä	beigeinä
translative		beigeksi	beigeiksi
instructive		—	beigein
abessive		beigettä	beigeittä
comitative		—	beigeineen

Possessive forms of beige (type nalle)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	beigeni	beigemme
2nd person	beigesi	beigenne
3rd person	beigensä

French

Etymology

From Old French bege.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bɛʒ/
Audio (file)

Adjective

beige (plural beiges)

beige

Descendants

Descendants of beige in other languages

→ Catalan: beix
→ Dutch: beige
- Afrikaans: beige
→ English: beige
- Hindi: बेज (bej)
→ Hijazi Arabic: بيج‎ (bēj)
→ Estonian: beež
→ Finnish: beesi, beige, bees
→ Galician: beixe
→ German: beige, Beige
→ Greek: μπεζ (bez)
→ Hungarian: bézs
→ Italian: beige
→ Japanese: ベージュ (bēju)
→ Korean: 베이지 (beiji)
→ Louisiana Creole French: bèj
→ Luxembourgish: beige
→ Persian: بژ‎
→ Polish: beż
→ Portuguese: bege
→ Romanian: bej
→ Russian: беж (bež)
→ Spanish: beis, beige
→ Swedish: beige
→ Turkish: bej
→ Vietnamese: be

German

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French beige.

Pronunciation

Predicative form: IPA^(key): /beːʃ/, /bɛːʃ/
Inflected forms: IPA^(key): /beːʒə/, /bɛːʒə/, /beːʃə/, /bɛːʃə/
Rhymes: -eːʃə, -eːʃ, -ɛːʃ, -ɛːʒə, -eːʒə, -ɛːʃə

Adjective

beige (strong nominative masculine singular beiger, not comparable)

beige

Usage notes

Beige is inflected like a regular adjective in pronunciation. However, since its basic form is written with a mute -e, the inflectional ending -e is not visible in writing: das beige [beːʒə] Haus – the beige house.

The other inflectional endings are visible: in dem beigen Haus – in the beige house.

Declension

Positive forms of beige (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
number & gender		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist beige	sie ist beige	es ist beige	sie sind beige
strong declension (without article)	nominative	beiger	beige	beiges	beige
	genitive	beigen	beiger	beigen	beiger
	dative	beigem	beiger	beigem	beigen
	accusative	beigen	beige	beiges	beige
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der beige	die beige	das beige	die beigen
	genitive	des beigen	der beigen	des beigen	der beigen
	dative	dem beigen	der beigen	dem beigen	den beigen
	accusative	den beigen	die beige	das beige	die beigen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein beiger	eine beige	ein beiges	(keine) beigen
	genitive	eines beigen	einer beigen	eines beigen	(keiner) beigen
	dative	einem beigen	einer beigen	einem beigen	(keinen) beigen
	accusative	einen beigen	eine beige	ein beiges	(keine) beigen

Related terms

Beige

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪ̯ɡə/
Hyphenation: bei‧ge

Verb

beige

inflection of beigen:
1. first-person singular present
2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
3. singular imperative

Luxembourgish

Etymology

Borrowed from French beige.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbeːʃ/
audio (file)

Adjective

beige (masculine beigen, neuter beiget, comparative méi beige, superlative am beigesten)

beige

Declension

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

besj (alternative spelling)

Adjective

beige (singular and plural beige)

beige

References

“beige” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

besj (alternative spelling)

Adjective

beige (singular and plural beige, comparative beigare, indefinite superlative beigast, definite superlative beigaste)

beige

References

“beige” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French beige

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbeiʃ/ [ˈbei̯ʃ]
- Rhymes: -eiʃ
IPA^(key): /ˈbeis/ [ˈbei̯s]
- Rhymes: -eis

Adjective

beige (invariable)

Alternative form of beis

Noun

beige m (uncountable)

Alternative form of beis

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Swedish

Etymology

Attested from 1895. Borrowed from French beige. The slang definition is likely associated to the perceived blandness of the color.

Pronunciation

(Sweden) IPA^(key): /beːɧ/, /bɛːɧ/
Rhymes: -eːɧ, -ɛːɧ

Adjective

beige

beige.
Hon hade en lång, beige kappa på sig.
She wore a long, beige coat.
(slang) boring, uninteresting, negative.
Din morsa är så jävla beige!
Your mother is so damn dull.

Declension

Inflection of beige
Indefinite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative²
Common singular	beige	beigare	beigast
Neuter singular	beigt	beigare	beigast
Plural	beiga	beigare	beigast
Masculine plural³	beige	beigare	beigast
Definite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Masculine singular¹	beige	beigare	beigaste
All	beiga	beigare	beigaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic

beige

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Translations

Adjective

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Further reading

Afrikaans

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Inflection

Derived terms

Finnish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Noun

Declension

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Descendants

Further reading

German

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Adjective

Usage notes

Declension

Related terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Verb

Further reading

Luxembourgish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

Adjective

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Adjective

References

Spanish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Noun

Usage notes

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension