بن

See also: ثن‎, تن‎, پ.ن‎, ین‎, and ين‎

Arabic

Etymology 1

Base form of اِبْن‎ (ibn). From Proto-Semitic *bin-. Compare Hebrew בֵּן‎.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ibn/

Noun

بْن • (bn) m

1. Alternative spelling of اِبْن‎ (ibn)

Usage notes

Used after another noun (which necessarily ends in a vowel if case endings are preserved).

Declension

Declension of noun بْن (bn)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	—	—	بْن bn
Nominative	—	—	بْنُ bnu
Accusative	—	—	بْنَ bna
Genitive	—	—	بْنِ bni

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Syriac ܒܽܘܢܳܐ‎ (būnā), which, attested as “barley soaked in water”, underwent a meaning development in 14^th-century Yemen due to brewages of sundry appetizing beverages, less likely in view of the pungent fish-sauce بُنّ‎ (bunn), but from the picture of barley grains to the coffee bean in particular. Compare meaning transferrals in the spice-names قِزْح‎ (qizḥ) and بِسْبَاس‎ (bisbās), and خَنْدَرِيس‎ (ḵandarīs, “spelt; gruel”) to “wine”, as قَهْوَة‎ (qahwa, “coffee”) originally meant “wine”. This specific meaning strain—it was only generalized in Ethiopia to mean the berry, powder and decoct of coffee too—is confirmed by Ancient Greek βύνη (búnē, “malt”), a borrowing found in Late Antiquity’s Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis and Aëtius of Amida. The further origin can be a technical term restricted from the well-known Middle Iranian word for “base, grounds” found as Classical Persian بن‎ (bun) and Old Armenian բուն (bun), also borrowed directly from Iranian in Omani Arabic بون‎ (būn), compare the Iranianism reflected in Arabic دُرْدِيّ‎ (durdiyy, “lees, amurca”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bunn/

Noun

بُنّ • (bunn) m (plural أَبْنَان‎ (ʔabnān)) (usually uncountable)

1. coffee beans, coffee
2. coffee tree
3. (obsolete) a fine strong fragrance

Declension

Declension of noun بُنّ (bunn)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	بُنّ bunn	الْبُنّ‎ al-bunn	بُنّ bunn
Nominative	بُنٌّ bunnun	الْبُنُّ‎ al-bunnu	بُنُّ bunnu
Accusative	بُنًّا‎ bunnan	الْبُنَّ‎ al-bunna	بُنَّ bunna
Genitive	بُنٍّ bunnin	الْبُنِّ‎ al-bunni	بُنِّ bunni
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	بُنَّيْن‎ bunnayn	الْبُنَّيْن‎ al-bunnayn	بُنَّيْ‎ bunnay
Nominative	بُنَّانِ‎ bunnāni	الْبُنَّانِ‎ al-bunnāni	بُنَّا‎ bunnā
Accusative	بُنَّيْنِ‎ bunnayni	الْبُنَّيْنِ‎ al-bunnayni	بُنَّيْ‎ bunnay
Genitive	بُنَّيْنِ‎ bunnayni	الْبُنَّيْنِ‎ al-bunnayni	بُنَّيْ‎ bunnay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَبْنَان‎ ʔabnān	الْأَبْنَان‎ al-ʔabnān	أَبْنَان‎ ʔabnān
Nominative	أَبْنَانٌ‎ ʔabnānun	الْأَبْنَانُ‎ al-ʔabnānu	أَبْنَانُ‎ ʔabnānu
Accusative	أَبْنَانًا‎ ʔabnānan	الْأَبْنَانَ‎ al-ʔabnāna	أَبْنَانَ‎ ʔabnāna
Genitive	أَبْنَانٍ‎ ʔabnānin	الْأَبْنَانِ‎ al-ʔabnāni	أَبْنَانِ‎ ʔabnāni

Derived terms

• بُنِّيّ‎ (bunniyy)

Descendants

• → Afar: bún, búun; búna, buná
• → Amharic: ቡን (bunn)
  • ⇒ Amharic: ቡና (bunna)
    • → Afar: buna
    • → Awngi: bunnoa
    • → Kafa: buno
    • → Oromo: buna
    • → Sidamo: buna
    • → Waata: bunna
    • → Wolaytta: bunna
• → Coptic: ⲡⲟⲛ (pon)
• → Gujarati: બૂંદ (bū̃d)
• → Harari: ቡን (bunn)
• → Tigre: ቡን (bun)
• → Tigrinya: ቡን (bun)
• → Ottoman Turkish: بن‎ (bünn)
• → Swahili: buni

See also

• قَهْوَة‎ (qahwa)

References

• Landberg, Carlo, editor (1909) Études sur les dialectes de l'Arabie méridionale. Deuxième volume. Daṯînah. Deuxième partie‎^[1] (in French), Leiden: Brill, pages 1062–1064

Etymology 3

Back-formation from بُنِّيّ‎ (bunniyy, “Labeobarbus bynni”), a well-eaten fish of the highest frequency in the Nile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bunn/

Noun

بُنّ • (bunn) m

2. (obsolete) brine, pickling-solution, a fish-dish from the salt water in which for example Labeobarbus bynni has been preserved.

Declension

Declension of noun بُنّ (bunn)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	بُنّ bunn	الْبُنّ‎ al-bunn	بُنّ bunn
Nominative	بُنٌّ bunnun	الْبُنُّ‎ al-bunnu	بُنُّ bunnu
Accusative	بُنًّا‎ bunnan	الْبُنَّ‎ al-bunna	بُنَّ bunna
Genitive	بُنٍّ bunnin	الْبُنِّ‎ al-bunni	بُنِّ bunni

See also

• مُرِّيّ‎ (murriyy)
• مَرَقَة‎ (maraqa)
• رُبَيْثَاء‎ (rubayṯāʔ)
• صِير‎ (ṣīr)
• أُجَاج‎ (ʔujāj)

References

• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881), “بن”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes (in French), volume 1, Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 116
• Freytag, Georg (1830), “بن”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 158b
• Lane, Edward William (1863), “بن”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 258a–b
• Streck, Maximilian (1907), “Bemerkungen zu einigen arabischen Fischnamen”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[2] (in German), volume 61, page 638

Etymology 4

Pronunciation 1

• IPA^(key): /bin/

Verb

بِنْ • (bin) (form I)

1. second-person masculine singular active imperative of بَانَ‎ (bāna)

Pronunciation 2

• IPA^(key): /bin.na/

Verb

بِنَّ • (binna) (form I)

1. second-person feminine plural active imperative of بَانَ‎ (bāna)
2. third-person feminine plural past active of بَانَ‎ (bāna)

Brokskat

Noun

بن (ban)

1. village

Kalami

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ban]

Adjective

بن (ban) m

1. closed

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Turkic *ben (“I”).

Pronoun

بن • (ben)

1. I

Declension

declension of بن

	singular (مفرد‎)	plural (جمع‎)
nominative	بن (ben)	بز‎ (biz)
genitive	بنم‎ (benim)	بزم‎ (bizim)
dative	بڭا‎ (baña)	بزه‎ (bize)
definite accusative	بنی‎ (beni)	بزی‎ (bizi)
locative	بنده‎ (bende)	بزده‎ (bizde)
ablative	بندن‎ (benden)	بزدن‎ (bizden)

Descendants

• Turkish: ben

Etymology 2

From Arabic اِبْن‎ (ibn, “son”).

Noun

بن • (bin) (plural بنی‎)

1. son (only used at names, e.g. Ahmet bin Ali - “the son of Ali, Ahmed”)

   Synonym: اوغلی‎ (oğlu)

References

• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “بن”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, Constantinople: Mihran, page 277
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “بنی”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 390

Pashto

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *hapáθniH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sapátniH (“co-wife”). Compare Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬞𐬀𐬚𐬥𐬍‎ (hapaθnī) and Sanskrit सपत्नी (sapatnī).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bən/

Noun

بن • (bën) f

1. co-wife

Declension

declension of بن

	singular		plural
direct	بن (bën)		بنې‎ (bëne)
oblique	بنې‎ (bëne)		بنو‎ (bëno)
vocative	بنې‎ (bëne)		بنو‎ (bëno)

Persian

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian [script needed] (bwn' /⁠bun⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *buHnáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰudʰnás, from *bʰudʰmḗn.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [bun]

 

• (Dari, formal/KBL) IPA^(key): [bʊn]

• (Dari, formal/KBL) IPA^(key): [bʊn]
  • (Hazaragi/approx.) IPA^(key): [bun]

• (Iran, formal/TEH) IPA^(key): [bon]

• (Tajik, formal/DUS) IPA^(key): [bun]

• Phonetic Persian:

Traditional: [بُن]‎

Iranian: [بُن]‎

Readings
Classical reading?	bun
Dari reading?	bun
Iranian reading?	bon
Tajik reading?	bun

Noun

بن • (bon)

1. bottom
2. foundation
3. root

Derived terms

• بنگاه‎ (bongâh, “organization, institution”)
• بن‌بست‎ (bon-bast, “dead-end”)

Etymology 2

From late Middle Persian [script needed] (bwn' /⁠bun⁠/), from earlier [script needed] (wn' /⁠wan⁠/, “tree; stock, stem”) also present as ون‎ (van, “ash tree”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [bun]

 

• (Dari, formal/KBL) IPA^(key): [bʊn]

• (Dari, formal/KBL) IPA^(key): [bʊn]
  • (Hazaragi/approx.) IPA^(key): [bun]

• (Iran, formal/TEH) IPA^(key): [bon]

• (Tajik, formal/DUS) IPA^(key): [bun]

• Phonetic Persian:

Traditional: [بُن]‎

Iranian: [بُن]‎

Readings
Classical reading?	bun
Dari reading?	bun
Iranian reading?	bon
Tajik reading?	bun

Noun

بن • (bon) (archaic)

1. bush
2. tree

Derived terms

• گلبن‎ (golbon)
• خاربن‎ (xârbon)
• سروبن‎ (sarvbon)

Etymology 3

From Arabic بِن‎ (bin, “son”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [bin]

 

• (Dari, formal/KBL) IPA^(key): [bɪn]

• (Dari, formal/KBL) IPA^(key): [bɪn]
  • (Hazaragi/approx.) IPA^(key): [bin]

• (Iran, formal/TEH) IPA^(key): [ben]

• (Tajik, formal/DUS) IPA^(key): [bin]

• Phonetic Persian:

Traditional: [بِن]‎

Iranian: [بِن]‎

Readings
Classical reading?	bin
Dari reading?	bin
Iranian reading?	ben
Tajik reading?	bin

Noun

بن • (ben)

1. bin (in Arabic names)

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

بن • (ben)

1. Ben (the capital city of Ben County, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran).
2. Ben (a county of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran).

Etymology 5

From German Bonn.

Pronunciation

• (Iran, formal/TEH) IPA^(key): [bon]

• Phonetic Persian:

Iranian: [بُن]‎

Readings
Iranian reading?	bon

Proper noun

بن • (bon)

1. Bonn (a city in North Rhine-Westphalia; former capital city of Germany)

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic بُنّ‎ (bunn).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /binn/, [bɪn]

• Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

Noun

بنّ • (binn) m

1. coffee beans
2. ground coffee

See also

• قهوة‎ (ʔahwe, “coffee”)
• بني‎ (binni, “brown”)