busy

English

Etymology

From Middle English busi, bisi (“busy”), from Old English bysiġ, bisiġ (“busy, occupied”). Cognate with Middle Dutch besich (Dutch bezig, “busy”), Low German besig (“busy”), Old Frisian bisgia (“to use”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: bĭz'i, IPA: /ˈbɪzi/, SAMPA: /"bIzi/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -ɪzi

Adjective

busy (comparative busier, superlative busiest)

1. Doing a great deal; having a lot of things to do in the space of time given

   It has been a busy day.

2. Engaged in another activity or by someone else.

   The director cannot see you now, he's busy.

   Her telephone has been busy all day.

   She is too busy to have time for riddles.

3. Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.

   Flowers, stripes, and checks in the same fabric make for a busy pattern.

Related terms

• busy as a beaver
• busy as a bee
• busybody
• busyness
• busy work

Translations

doing a great deal

Afrikaans: besig Albanian: zënë American Sign Language: B@RadialWrist-PalmForward-OpenB@CenterChesthigh-PalmDown Sidetoside Arabic: مشغول (ar) (mashghuul) Azeri: məşğul Bosnian: nametljiv (bs) Bulgarian: деен (bg) (deen) Catalan: ocupat Chinese: Mandarin: 忙 (cmn) (máng), 繁忙 (cmn) (fánmáng) Croatian: prometan (hr) Czech: zaměstnaný m., zaneprázděný m. (of person) Danish: travl (da) Dutch: bezig (nl) Esperanto: okupata (eo) Estonian: toimekas Finnish: kiireinen (fi), työntäyteinen (fi) French: occupé (fr) Galician: trang Georgian: დაკავებულია (dakavebulia) German: beschäftigt (de) Greek: πολυάσχολος (polyáskholos) Hebrew: עָסוּק ('asúq) m., עסוקה ('asuqa) f. Hindi: व्यस्त (hi) (vyasta), मसरूफ़ (hi) (masrūf), मशग़ूल (hi) (maśġūl) Hungarian: foglalt (hu) Icelandic: upptekinn (is) Ido: okupata Indonesian: sibuk (id) Irish: gnóthach Italian: occupato (it)

Japanese: 忙しい (ja) (いそがしい, isogashii), (in the middle of smth.) 使用中 (ja) (しようちゅう, shiyō-chū) Korean: 바쁜 (ko) (bappeun) Latvian: nodarbināts Lithuanian: užsiėmusiam Mongolian: завгүй (mn) (zavgüj) Norwegian: travel (no), opptatt (no) Papiamentu: okupá Persian: مشغول (fa) (mašğûl) Polish: zajęty (pl) Portuguese: ocupado (pt) Romanian: harnic (ro) Russian: занятой (ru) (zanjatój) / занятый (ru) (zánjatyj), деятельный (ru) (déjatel’nyj) (active) Scottish Gaelic: trang Serbian: прометан (prometan) Slovak: činný (sk) Slovene: zaposlen (sl) Spanish: ocupado (es) Swahili: bizi (sw) Swedish: jäktig (sv), flitig (sv) Tagalog: okupado Thai: ยุ่งวุ่นวาย (yôong wôon waai) Turkish: meşgul (tr) Ukrainian: зайнятий (zájnjatyj) Urdu: مصروف (ur) (masrūf), مشغول (ur) (maśġūl) Uyghur: ayighi Vietnamese: bận rộn Welsh: prysur West Frisian: beset Yiddish: farnumen

engaged

Bulgarian: зает (bg) Dutch: bezig (nl) Finnish: varattu (fi) French: occupé (fr) German: besetzt (de), beschäftigt (de) Italian: occupato (it) m.

Latin: occupatus (la) m. Norwegian: opptatt (no), travel (no) Polish: zajęty (pl) Russian: занятый (ru) (zánjatyj) Swedish: upptagen (sv)

complicated

Czech: rušný (cs) Dutch: druk (nl)

Finnish: levoton (fi), sekava (fi) Polish: skomplikowany (pl)

Verb

busy (third-person singular simple present busies, present participle busying, simple past and past participle busied)

1. To make somebody busy, to keep busy with, to occupy, to make occupied.
   • On my vacation I'll busy myself with gardening.
2. To rush somebody.

Translations

to keep busy with

Bulgarian: занимавам (bg) Czech: zaměstnávat (cs)

Finnish: puuhailla (fi), askaroida (fi), työllistää (fi)

to rush somebody

Finnish: hoputtaa (fi)

Anagrams

• buys