bes
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English bes.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /biːz/
- Rhymes: -iːz
- Homophone: bees
Verb
bes
- (now chiefly dialectal) Third-person singular simple present indicative form 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
- is
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
Borrowed from Latin bes.
Noun
bes (plural besses)
- (historical, numismatics) A bronze coin of the Roman Republic, worth two thirds of an as.
Noun
bes
- plural of be (Cyrillic letter)
Anagrams
- BSE, EBs, ESB, EbS, SEB, SbE, Seb
Aromanian
Alternative forms
- besu
Etymology
Probably from a Vulgar Latin vissiō (attested in glosses). Compare Romanian băși, băs.
Verb
bes (past participle bishitã)
- I fart.
Synonyms
- bishinedz
Related terms
- bishiri / bishire
- bishit
- bishinã
Balinese
Conjunction
bes
- too (as in too hard, too much etc.)
- bes joh
- too far (away)
- bes joh
Catalan
Noun
bes
- plural of be
Etymology 2
From Latin basium, from Proto-Indo-European *bu. Compare Occitan bais, Spanish beso, Italian bacio.
Noun
bes m (plural besos)
- kiss
Synonyms
- petó
- besada
Related terms
- besar
Etymology 3
From Latin versus. Doublet of vers.
Noun
bes m (plural bessos)
- (nautical) strip of cloth used as part of a sail or a flag
Further reading
- “bes” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “bes” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Chipewyan
Noun
bes
- knife
Cornish
Alternative forms
- bys
Etymology
From Proto-Brythonic *bɨd, from Proto-Celtic *bitus.
Pronunciation
- (Revived Late Cornish) IPA(key): [beːz]
Noun
bes m (plural besow)
- (Revived Late Cornish) world
Mutation
| Cornish consonant mutation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unmutated | soft | aspirate | hard | mixed | mixed after 'th |
| bes | ves | unchanged | pes | fes | ves |
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɛs/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: bes
- Rhymes: -ɛs
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch bes, from Old Dutch besi, from Proto-Germanic *basją. Compare English berry, Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍃𐌹 (weinabasi, “grape”).
Noun
bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n)
- berry
- Synonyms: bei, bees, bezie
Derived terms
- aalbes
- bessenjenever
- bessensap
- bessenstruik
- blauwe bes
- bosbes
- goudbes
- jakhalsbes
- jeneverbes
- kruisbes
- lijsterbes
- loganbes
- rijsbes
- rode bes
- vogelbes
- waterbes
- witte bes
- zwarte bes
Descendants
- → 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)
- (music) B flat
Etymology 3
Backformation from besje, from older bestje, from bestemoer or bestemoeder (“grandma, old woman”).
Alternative forms
- best
Noun
bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n)
- (chiefly diminutive) an old woman
Kashubian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *bъzъ.
Noun
bes m
- elder (Sambucus)
Latin
Etymology
From a derivative of *duō (“two”) (compare bis) + as.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /bes/, [bɛs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /bes/, [bɛs]
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).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | bes | bessēs |
| Genitive | bessis | bessium |
| Dative | bessī | bessibus |
| Accusative | bessem | bessēs bessīs |
| Ablative | besse | bessibus |
| Vocative | bes | bessēs |
References
- bes in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
Malay
Etymology
From English base.
Noun
bes (Jawi spelling بيس, plural bes-bes, informal 1st possessive besku, 2nd possessive besmu, 3rd possessive besnya)
- (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
- bas
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [bʲes]
Verb
bes
- third-person singular present subjunctive relative of is
Mutation
| Old Irish mutation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
| bes | bes pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/ | mbes |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | ||
Papiamentu
Etymology
From Portuguese vez and Spanish vez and Kabuverdianu vés.
Noun
bes
- times as in "three times is too much"
- occasion, instance
Serbo-Croatian
Alternative forms
- bijȇs (Ijekavian)
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *běsъ (“evil spirit”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bêːs/
Noun
bȇs m (Cyrillic spelling бе̑с)
- rage
- fury
- madness
- mania
- tantrum
- wildness
- ferocity
- rampage
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)
- bes (two-thirds of an as (Roman measurement), around 219.3 grams)
Noun
bes f pl
- plural of be
Further reading
- “bes”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Verb
bes
- infinitive passive of be.
- present tense passive of be.
Tagalog
Etymology
Clipping from English best friend.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbes/, [ˈbes]
Noun
bes
- (slang, colloquial) term of address for one's friend, especially a close one: friend; best friend
Usage notes
The term is typically used by women, and may sound effeminate when used by men.
Related terms
- beshie
Western Yugur
| < 4 | 5 | 6 > |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal : bes | ||
Numeral
bes
- five