bee

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Noun 1.2.1.1 Translations 1.2.1.2 Derived terms 1.2.1.3 See also 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Noun 1.4 Etymology 3 1.4.1 Verb 1.5 Etymology 4 1.5.1 Noun 1.5.1.1 Translations 2 Finnish 2.1 Noun 2.1.1 Declension 3 Latin 3.1 Interjection 4 Mandinka 4.1 Pronunciation 4.2 Noun 5 Manx 5.1 Noun 5.2 Verb 6 Tetum 6.1 Alternative forms 6.2 Noun

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: bē, IPA: /biː/, SAMPA: /bi:/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: be

[edit] Etymology 1

From Old English bēo, from Proto-Germanic *bēō, from Proto-Germanic *bhī-. Cognate with Dutch bij, Upper German Beie, Swedish bi; and (from Indo-European) with Latvian bite, Russian пчела (pčelá), Old Irish bech.

[edit] Noun

bee (plural bees)

1. A flying insect, of the order Hymenoptera, superfamily Apoidea.
2. A contest, especially for spelling, see spelling bee.
3. A gathering for a specific purpose, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Derived terms

bee-eater beekeeper beehive beeline beeswax

bee's knees bumblebee honeybee carpenter bee have a bee in your bonnet

put the bee on queen bee stingless bee sting like a bee worker bee

[edit] See also

apian apiarian apiarist apiary apimania Appendix: Animals Appendix: Collective nouns

drone dumbledore hornet honey imbe pollinator wasp

[edit] Etymology 2

(Northern development of) Old English bēah.

[edit] Noun

bee (plural bees)

1. (obsolete) A ring or torque; a bracelet.
   • 1658: ...restoring unto the world much gold richly adorning his Sword, two hundred Rubies, many hundred Imperial Coynes, three hundred golden Bees, the bones and horseshoe of his horse enterred with him... — Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial (Penguin 2005, p. 16)

[edit] Etymology 3

Variant spellings.

[edit] Verb

bee

1. Archaic spelling of the verb be.
   • Quotations

   1604 Reverend Cawdrey Table Aleph: held that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’

[edit] Etymology 4

[edit] Noun

bee (plural bees)

1. The letter B, b.

[edit] Translations

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[edit] Finnish

[edit] Noun

bee

1. The letter B, b.

[edit] Declension

Declension of bee (type maa) singular plural nominative bee beet genitive been beiden beitten partitive beetä beitä accusative bee been beet inessive beessä beissä elative beestä beistä illative beehen beihin adessive beellä beillä ablative beeltä beiltä allative beelle beille essive beenä beinä translative beeksi beiksi instructive – bein abessive beettä beittä comitative – beineen

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[edit] Latin

[edit] Interjection

bee!

1. baa (sound of a sheep)

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[edit] Mandinka

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /beː/

[edit] Noun

bee

1. (anatomy) vagina

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[edit] Manx

[edit] Noun

bee

1. food

[edit] Verb

bee

1. To be.

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[edit] Tetum

[edit] Alternative forms

• wee (Tetun-Terik)

[edit] Noun

bee

1. water