bist

bist

See also: bîst and bīst

English

Etymology

From Middle English bist, beest, best, from Old English bist ("(thou) art"; second person singular of bēon (“to be”)), from Proto-Germanic *biusi (“(thou) art”), equivalent to be +‎ -est. Cognate with West Frisian bist (“(thou) art”), Low German büst (“(thou) art”), German bist (“(thou) art”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪst

Verb

bist

1. (UK dialectal, Black Country, Bristol, West Country, Northern England) Originally used to form the second person singular of be, but can denote other present tense forms, such as: are, am, is
   • 1875, Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor, Punch:

     Thee bist rayther too much a feelosofer, I be afeard, for me.

   • 1904, Henry Branch, Cotswold and vale:

     Lookee, thee bist purty, my love; lookee, thee bist purty: thee hast dove's eyes betwix thy locks; thy locks be like a flock o' ship fur thickedness.

   Where bist goin'.

   Where are you going?

   I bist goin' 'ome.

   I am going home

   How bist?

   How are you?

Related terms

• bin
• bisn't

Anagrams

• ITBS, ITBs, TBIs, bits, stib-, tibs

---

Dutch

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present of zijn

---

German

Etymology

From Old High German bist. Cognate to Middle Dutch bes, best[1], dialectal English bist, beest.

German bist has two sources:

• a form based on Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“(you) are (sg.)”)
• an initial b- that was added to the word under influence of verb forms based on Proto-Germanic *beuną (as in Old English beon)[2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪst/

• audio

  (file)

• audio

  (file)

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present of sein

   Du bist nicht mein Sohn.

   You are not my son.

References

1. A. van Loey, Schönfeld's Historische Grammatica van het Nederlands, 8. druk 1970, →ISBN; §147a
2. Friedrich Kluge (1989), “bin”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

---

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪst/

Verb

bist

1. first/second-person singular perfect of bies

---

Middle English

Alternative forms

• beest, best

Etymology

From Old English bist ("(thou) art"; second person singular of bēon (“to be”)), from Proto-Germanic *biusi (“(thou) art”), equivalent to been +‎ -est.

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present indicative of been

Usage notes

This form is less common than art for the second-person singular.

Descendants

• English: bist, beest (archaic or dialectal)

---

Old English

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present of bēon

Descendants

• Middle English: bist, beest, best
  • English: bist, beest (archaic or dialectal)

---

Old High German

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present indicative of wesan

---

Wakhi

Etymology

From Tajik бист (bist).

Numeral

bist

1. twenty

---

West Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪst/

Etymology 1

From Old Frisian bist, second person singular indicative of wesa (“to be”). Cognate with English bist, German bist.

Verb

bist

1. second person singular indicative of wêze

Etymology 2

Ultimately from Latin bēstia.

Noun

bist n (plural bisten, diminutive bistje or bistke)

1. animal, beast

   De bisten binne fuort. ― The animals are gone.

Alternative forms

• beest

Derived terms

• leavehearsbistke

Further reading

• “beest”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

---

Yagnobi

Numeral

bist

1. twenty

Further reading

• Ronald Emmerick, Iranian, in Indo-European Numerals (1992, →ISBN, edited by Jadranka Gvozdanovic), page 312