by

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See also -by, and .by

Contents

English [edit]

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

Alternative forms [edit]

  • bye (archaic for preposition and adverb, not used for abbreviation, preferred for noun and interjection)

Etymology [edit]

From Old English bī (“being near”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Preposition [edit]

by

  1. Near or next to.
    The mailbox is by the bus stop.
  2. At some time before (the given time), or before the end of a given time interval.
    Be back by ten o'clock!
    We will send it by the first week of July.
  3. Indicates the actor in a clause with its verb in the passive voice Through the action or presence of.
    The matter was decided by the chairman.
    The boat was swamped by the water.
    He was protected by his body armour.
    • 2011 September 28, Jon Smith, “Valencia 1 - 1 Chelsea”, BBC Sport:
      Valencia threatened sporadically in the first half with Miguel having a decent effort deflected wide by Ashley Cole, while Jordi Alba's near-post cross was flicked into the sidenetting by Pablo Hernandez.
  4. Indicates the creator of a work Existing through the authorship etc of.
    There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare
  5. Indicates the cause of a condition or event Through the action of, caused by, responsibility for; by dint of.
    • 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, 2005 Barnes & Noble Classics publication of 1912 Wessex edition, p109:
      In other directions the fields and sky were so much of one colour by the snow that it was difficult in a hasty glance to tell whereabouts the horizon occurred [...]
  6. Indicates a means Involving/using the means of.
    I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking.
  7. Indicates a source of light (medium emanating from hot sources)
  8. Indicates a rule followed Using the rules or logic of.
    I sorted the items by category.
  9. Indicates the amount of some progression With a change of.
    Our stock is up by ten percent.
  10. In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.
    We went through the book page by page.
    We crawled forward by inches.
  11. Indicates a referenced source According to.
    He cheated by his own admission.
  12. Indicates an oath With the authority of.
    By Jove! I think she's got it!
    By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this.
  13. Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.
    It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix.
    The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot.
    The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by 30 cm.

Derived terms [edit]

terms derived from by (preposition)

Translations [edit]

near, or next to
some time before the given time
indication of passive voice
indicates creator of a work
indicates a means
indicates a rule followed
indicating amount of progression
steady progression
with the authority of
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Adverb [edit]

by (not comparable)

  1. Along a path which runs by the speaker.
    I watched as it passed by.
  2. In the vicinity, near.
    There was a shepherd close by.
    The shop is hard by the High Street.
  3. To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.
    I'll stop by on my way home from work.
    We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave.
  4. Aside, away.
    The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring.

Derived terms [edit]

terms derived from by (adverb)

Translations [edit]

along a path

Adjective [edit]

by (not comparable)

  1. Out of the way, subsidiary.

Antonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Noun [edit]

by (plural bys)

  1. (card games) A pass

Interjection [edit]

by

  1. Alternative spelling of bye.

Statistics [edit]

Danish [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Old Norse býr (“settlement”). Related to the element -by in English place names, such as Whitby.

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /byː/, [b̥yːˀ]

Noun [edit]

by c (singular definite byen, plural indefinite byer)

  1. town, city

Related terms [edit]

Related terms

Inflection [edit]

    Inflection of by
common gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative by byen byer byerne
genitive bys byens byers byernes

Lojban [edit]

Alternative forms [edit]

Letter [edit]

by (selma'o by)

  1. Name of the letter b.

Usage notes [edit]

  • All letter names can be used as pronouns, usually referring to something denoted by a word beginning with that letter.
    la alis cu lebna le bifpra e lei gluta gi'e co'a pilno by
    Alice took up the fan and gloves and was using it (i.e., the fan, bifpra)
  • When used to spell a word, precede the string of letters with me'o.
  • If a letter is followed by another letter or a number (including an imprecise or non-integral one such as za'u or pai), and they do not make a single string of letters, separate them with boi.

See also [edit]

Middle English [edit]

Verb [edit]

by

  1. be

Norwegian [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /byː/, [byː]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Old Norse býr (“place (to camp or settle), land, property, lot; and later settlement”).

Noun [edit]

by m

  1. town, city
Inflection [edit]
    Inflection of by
indefinite singular definite singular indefinite plural definite plural
Bokmål m by byen byer byene
Nynorsk m by byen byar byane
References [edit]
  • “by” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary – Dokumentasjonsprosjektet.

Etymology 2 [edit]

From byde, from Old Norse bjóða, from Proto-Germanic *beudaną (“to offer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to wake, rise up”).

Verb [edit]

by

  1. bid; offer
  2. ask; invite
  3. command; order

Polish [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Particle [edit]

by

  1. (always before a verb) a particle used to make conditional mood; would, should
    On by tam nie poszedł. = On nie poszedłby tam. — He would not go there.
singular plural
1st person bym byśmy
2nd person byś byście
3rd person by by

Synonyms [edit]

Conjunction [edit]

by

  1. in order to

Synonyms [edit]

Swedish [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

by c

  1. village
  2. (obsolete) farm
  3. breeze, gust

Declension [edit]

Declension of by
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative by byn byar byarna
genitive bys byns byars byarnas

Related terms [edit]

(village):
(breeze):

References [edit]

West Frisian [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Preposition [edit]

by

  1. near to
  2. in relation to
    • By âlds -- In the olden days
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