בת

Aramaic

Root
ב־י־ת (b-y-t)
1 term

Etymology

Denominated from בֵּיתָא (“house”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑθ/

Verb

בָּת • (bāṯ)

1. to spend the night (somewhere), to lodge

Usage notes

In Syriac and Classical Mandaic, the "hollow"/"middle" consonant is conjugated as if it were /u/ (consonental /w/) (ex: ܢܒܘܬ (nbwt, “he will spend the night”)), however in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, and Samaritan Aramaic it is conjugated as if it were /i/ (consonental /j/) (ex: בִּיתוּ (bīṯū, “spend the night! (masc pl imperative)”) and נְבִית (nəḇīṯ, “we will spend the night”)). The conjugation in Biblical Aramaic is unclear as the word only appears one time and in the perfect (בָּת (bāṯ, “he stayed the night”)).

References

• “bwt”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–

Hebrew

Root
ב־ן (b-n)
3 terms

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *bint-, the /i/ changing to /a/ through Philippi's Law and /n/ assimilating to the following /t/.

Cognate with Arabic بنت (bint).

Pronunciation

• (reconstructed Biblical) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛtt/ → /ˈbatt/ → /ˈbat/ → [ˈbaθ]
• (Tiberian) IPA^(key): /ˈbaθ/ [ˈbaːθ]
• (Yemenite) IPA^(key): /ˈbaθ/ [ˈbæːθ]
• (Modern Israeli) IPA^(key): /bat/

Noun

בַּת • (bat) f (plural indefinite בָּנוֹת, singular construct בַּת־, plural construct בְּנוֹת־, masculine counterpart בֵּן)

1. daughter
   • Tanach, Exodus 2:7, with translation of the King James Version:

     וַתֹּאמֶר אֲחֹתוֹ אֶל בַּת פַּרְעֹה

     vatómer achotó el bat par'ó

     Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter

2. (by analogy with בן) a direct female descendant

   בת חוה ― bat khavá ― daughter of Eve

3. a girl, a gal
4. (construct only) Used in expressing the age of a woman, a girl, or the referent of a feminine noun: age, aged.

   היא בת שש. ― hi bat shesh. ― She is six years old. (literally, “She is a daughter of six.”)

   • HaTikva

     עוד לא אבדה תקותינו \ התקוה בת שנות אלפים

     od lo avda tikvatenu / hatikvah bat shenot alpayim

     Our hope is not yet lost / The hope of two thousand years old

Usage notes

• Like other words that start with ב,‎ ג,‎ ד,‎ כ,‎ פ,‎ or ת, this term's initial letter takes a dagesh lene. In older texts, that dagesh is usually dropped when the word is preceded, in the same phrase, by a word ending in a mater lectionis; in modern texts, the dagesh is usually preserved even in such a case. Likewise, in older texts, the dagesh is always dropped when the word is prefixed by an indefinite ב־‏,‎ כ־‏,‎ or ל־‏, or by ו־‏; in modern speech, the dagesh is often preserved in such a case. (After the definite ב־‏,‎ כ־‏,‎ and ל־‏, and after the prefixes ה־‏,‎ מ־‏,‎ and ש־‏, there is a dagesh forte, as described in the usage notes for those prefixes.)

Declension

Declension of בַּת

	isolated forms		with possessive pronouns
Number:	State:	form	Person:	singular		plural
				m	f	m	f
singular	indefinite	בַּת	first	בִּתִּי		בִּתֵּנוּ
	definite	הַבַּת	second	בִּתְּךָ	בִּתֵּךְ	בִּתְּכֶם	בִּתְּכֶן
	construct	בַּת־	third	בִּתּוֹ	בִּתָּהּ	בִּתָּם	בִּתָּן
plural	indefinite	בָּנוֹת	first	בנותיי / בְּנוֹתַי		בְּנוֹתֵינוּ
	definite	הַבָּנוֹת	second	בְּנוֹתֶיךָ	בנותייך / בְּנוֹתַיִךְ	בְּנוֹתֵיכֶם	בְּנוֹתֵיכֶן
	construct	בְּנוֹת־	third	בְּנוֹתָיו	בְּנוֹתֶיהָ	בְּנוֹתָם	בְּנוֹתָן

Derived terms

• בַּת־דּוֹד (bat-dód)
• בַּת יָם (bat yam)
• בַּת־קוֹל (bat kol)
• בַּת שֶׁבַע (bat shéva)

Etymology 2

Perhaps related to Arabic بَاطِيَة (bāṭiya, “wine-vessel”).

Noun

בַּת • (bat) m or f (plural indefinite בַּתִּים)

1. (Biblical) a liquid measure of about 40 litres

Descendants

• → English: bath
• → Ancient Greek: βάτος (bátos), βᾰ́δος (bắdos)

References

• Lagarde, Paul de (1880), Orientalia‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Göttingen: Dieterichsche Verlags-Buchhandlung, pages 10–12
• H1323 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• H1324 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible