beside

English

Etymology

From Middle English beside, besiden, bisyde (also besides > besides), from Old English be sīdan, bī sīdan (“by the side (of), on the side (of)”), equivalent to be- +‎ side. Compare Saterland Frisian biesiede (“aside”), German Low German bisied (“aside”), German beiseite (“aside, to one side”). Compare also Dutch terzijde (“aside”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪˈsaɪd/,
(General American) IPA^(key): /biˈsaɪd/, /bəˈsaɪd/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -aɪd

Preposition

beside

Next to; at the side of.
A small table beside the bed
Not relevant to.
That is beside the point
Besides; in addition.
- 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], OCLC 960856019:
  To all beside, as much an empty shade,
  An Eugene living, as a Caesar dead.
- April 8 1805, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Orange Blossom"
  O how the honey tells the tale of its birthplace to the sense of sight and odour! and to how many minute and uneyeable insects beside!

Usage notes

Not to be confused with besides. See w:Adverbial genitive.

Derived terms

besidely
beside oneself
besides
beside the mark
beside the point

Translations

next to

Arabic: بِجَانِب‎ (ar) (bi-jānib)
Egyptian Arabic: جَنْب‎ (ganb)
Bulgarian: до (bg) (do), край (bg) (kraj), бли́зо (bg) (blízo)
Cebuano: tapad
Chinese:
Mandarin: 在...旁邊／在...旁边 (zh) (zài...pángbiān)
Czech: vedle (cs)
Dutch: naast (nl)
Esperanto: apud (eo)
Finnish: vieressä (fi), rinnalla (fi), jonkin vieressä
French: auprès de (fr), à côté de (fr)
Galician: a carón de (gl), onda (gl), cabo de (gl), á beira de
German: neben (de)
Greek: δίπλα (el) (dípla), πλάι σε (plái se)
Hebrew: לצד‎ (le'tzad)
Hindi: ... की बग़ल में (... kī baġal mẽ)
Hungarian: mellett (hu)
Ido: apud (io)
Irish: cois, in aice le, in aice
Italian: accanto (it), vicino (it)
Japanese: ...のそばに (ja) (...no soba ni)
Korean: ...옆에 (ko) (...yeop-e)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: لەبن‎ (lebin), تەنیشت‎ (tenîşt)
Northern Kurdish: li rex (ku)
Lao: please add this translation if you can
Latin: juxta
Maore Comorian: ɓavuni mwa
Navajo: bíighahgi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ved (no), ved siden av (no)
Nynorsk: ved, attmed
Pashto: تر څنګ‎ (ter tsang)
Persian: پهلوی‎ (fa) (pahlu-ye), کنار‎ (fa) (kenâr-e)
Polish: obok (pl), przy (pl)
Portuguese: ao lado de, do lado de (colloquial)
Romanian: lângă (ro), alături (ro)
Russian: ря́дом с (ru) (rjádom s) (+ instrumental case), о́коло (ru) (ókolo) (+ genitive case), во́зле (ru) (vózle) (+ genitive case), при (ru) (pri)
Scottish Gaelic: ri taobh
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: кра̑ј, уз, по̏ред
Roman: krȁj (sh), uz (sh), pȍred (sh)
Slovak: vedľa, pri, popri
Spanish: al lado de, cabe (es)
Swedish: intill (sv), bredvid (sv)
Thai: ข้าง (th) (kâang), ข้างเคียง (kâang kiang)
Ukrainian: по́ряд (pórjad), по́руч (póruč)
Vietnamese: bên (vi)
Waray-Waray: takin, sapit
West Frisian: njonken

not relevant to

Dutch: naast (nl)
French: outre (fr)
German: neben (de)
Greek: εκτός (el) (ektós)
Norwegian: på siden
Polish: poza (pl)
Portuguese: irrelevante para
Russian: поми́мо (ru) (pomímo) (+ genitive case)
Slovak: mimo

Adverb

beside (not comparable)

Otherwise; else; besides.
- 1817 (published 11 January 1818), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Sonnet. Ozymandias.”, in Rosalind and Helen, a Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […], published 1819, OCLC 1940490, page 92:
  Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
  Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
  The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Anagrams

beedis