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Bee

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bee¹

  • /ˈbiː/

Sounds like b, be, Bea · Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰey-der.

Proto-Germanic *bijǭ

Proto-West Germanic *bijā

Old English bēo

Middle English be

English bee

From Middle English be, bee, beo, bey, from Old English bēo, bīo (“bee”), from Proto-West Germanic *bijā, from Proto-Germanic *bijǭ (“bee”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰey- (“bee”).

Cognates

Cognate with Yola been (“bees”), North Frisian bi (“bee”), West Frisian bij (“bee”), Dutch bij, by (“bee”), German Biene (“bee”), Limburgish Bé, bie (“bee”), Luxembourgish Bei (“bee”), Vilamovian byn (“bee”), West Flemish bieë (“bee”), Yiddish בין (bin, “bee”), Danish and Swedish bi (“bee”), Faroese býfluga (“bee”), Icelandic bý, býfluga (“bee”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk bie (“bee”); also Irish beach, meach (“bee”), Scottish Gaelic beach (“bee; beehive; wasp”), Latin fūcus (“bee”), Latvian bite (“bee”), Lithuanian bitė (“bee”), Belarusian пчала́ (pčalá, “bee”), Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Russian пчела́ (pčelá, “bee”), Czech včála, včela (“bee”), Polish pszczoła (“bee”), Serbo-Croatian пчѐла, bčela, pčèla (“bee”), Slovak včela (“bee”), Slovene čebela (“bee”), Ukrainian бджола́ (bdžolá, “bee”), Ossetian биндзӕ (binʒæ), бындз (bynʒ, “fly”), Pashto وينه (waynë́, wenë́, wuynë́, “termite; white ant”).

noun bees · been

  1. A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey. His face was belymmed as byes had him stounge[…].
  2. informal, proscribed Any stinging flying insect, especially a wasp.

Similar: king of insects

bee²

  • /ˈbiː/

Sounds like b, be, Bea · Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

Possibly from dialectal bene, been, bean (“help given by neighbours”), from Middle English been, bene (“neighbourly help, prayer, petition, request, extra service given by a tenant to his lord”), from Old English bēn (“prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōni, from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“prayer, request, supplication”).

Thus a variant of obsolete ben (“prayer; petition”) and doublet of boon. Cognate with Danish bøn (“prayer”), Dutch ban (“curse”), German Bann (“ban”). More at ban.

noun bees

  1. A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee. geography bee
  2. A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee. The cellar […] was dug by a bee in a single day.

bee³

  • /ˈbiː/

Sounds like b, be, Bea · Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

From Middle English bie, from Old English bēah, bēag, from Proto-West Germanic *baug, from Proto-Germanic *baugaz. Doublet of beag, a learned borrowing; and of bagel.

noun bees

  1. obsolete A ring or torque; a bracelet. And kyng Arthur gaf her a ryche bee of gold and soo she departed

bee⁴

  • /ˈbiː/

Sounds like b, be, Bea · Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

Variant spellings.

verb

  1. obsolete Obsolete spelling of be.be held that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’
  2. obsolete, participle, past past participle of be; beenbe His Lady sad to see his sore constraint, / Cride out, Now now Sir knight, shew what ye bee / Add faith vnto your force, and be not faint: / Strangle her, els she sure will strangle thee.

bee⁵

  • /ˈbiː/

Sounds like b, be, Bea · Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English be, from Latin be (the name of the letter B).

noun bees

  1. The name of the Latin script letter B/b. "The ee-vee-ee-ar-en-oh-ee-ell-blank-bee-ell-oh-ess-ess-oh-em-blank-en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar is especially dee-ee-ell-eye-cee-eye-oh-you-ess." Our friends thanked the spelling bee for his help and then he buzzed off.

bee⁶

  • /ˈbiː/

Sounds like b, be, Bea · Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

Probably from Old English bēah (“ring”). Compare bow.

noun bees

  1. plural normally Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.

Bee⁷

noun Bees

  1. someone connected with Barnet Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
  2. Alternative letter-case form of bee.bee

proper noun

  1. A diminutive of the female given name Beatrice.
  2. A surname.

BEE⁸

noun

  1. South Africa, abbreviation, initialism, uncountable Initialism of Black Economic Empowerment.Black Economic Empowerment

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