being

English

Alternative forms

• beeing (archaic)
• beïng (rare)

Etymology

Originated 1250–1300 from Middle English being; see be + -ing.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɪŋ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɪŋ/, /ˈbiŋ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːɪŋ, -ɪŋ
• Hyphenation: be‧ing

Verb

being

1. present participle of be

Noun

being (countable and uncountable, plural beings)

1. A living creature.
   • 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, page 126:

     Minute grew into minute, and still there was no sign of life, nor did the curtain move; but I felt the gaze of the unknown being sinking through and through me, and filling me with a nameless terror, till the perspiration stood in beads upon my brow.

2. The state or fact of existence, consciousness, or life, or something in such a state.
   • 1608-1634, John Webster (and perhaps Thomas Heywood), Appius and Virginia

     Claudius, thou / Wast follower of his fortunes in his being.

   • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt

     For the service to be considered was not the service of one servant, but of two servants, and even of three servants, and even of an infinity of servants, of whom the first could not out till the second up, nor the second up till the third in, nor the third in till the first out, nor the first out till the third in, nor the third in till the second up, nor the second up till the first out, every going, every being, every coming consisting with a being and a coming, a coming and a going, a going and a being, nay with all the beings and all the comings, with all the comings and all the goings, with all the goings and all the beings, of all the servants that had ever served Mr. Knott, of all the servants that ever would serve Mr. Knott.

3. (philosophy) That which has actuality (materially or in concept).
4. (philosophy) One's basic nature, or the qualities thereof; essence or personality.
5. (obsolete) An abode; a cottage.
   • 1712 December 5 (Gregorian calendar)​, Richard Steele, “MONDAY, November 24, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 544; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, OCLC 191120697:

     It was a relief to dismiss them [Sir Roger's servants] into little beings within my manor.

Synonyms

• (a living creature): See also Thesaurus:creature
• (the state or fact of existence): See also Thesaurus:existence

Derived terms

Derived terms

• beinghood

• beingless
• beingness
• come into being
• (noun) human being

Translations

a living creature

• Afrikaans: wese (af)
• Arabic: كَائِن‎ (ar) m (kāʾin), مَخْلُوق‎ (ar) m (maḵlūq)
• Armenian: էակ (hy) (ēak)
• Aromanian: hiintsã f, yeatsã f
• Azerbaijani: məxluq (az)
• Belarusian: істо́та f (istóta), стварэ́нне n (stvarénnje)
• Bulgarian: същество́ (bg) n (sǎštestvó), създа́ние (bg) n (sǎzdánie), твар (bg) f (tvar)
• Catalan: ésser (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 生物 (zh) (shēngwù)

• Czech: bytost (cs) f, tvor (cs) m, stvoření (cs) n
• Danish: væsen
• Dutch: wezen (nl) n
• Esperanto: estaĵo, estulo
• Estonian: olend
• Finnish: olento (fi)
• French: être (fr) m, créature (fr) f
• Georgian: არსება (arseba)
• German: Wesen (de) n, Geschöpf (de) n
• Greek: πλάσμα (el) n (plásma)
• Hebrew: בריה‎ (he), יצור‎ (he)
• Hungarian: lény (hu)
• Icelandic: vera (is)
• Indonesian: makhluk (id)
• Irish: neach m, dúil f
• Italian: essere (it) m, creatura (it)
• Japanese: 生き物 (ja) (いきもの, ikimono), 生物 (ja) (せいぶつ, seibutsu)

• Khmer: ភាវៈរស់ (phea veak ros), ជន (km) (cɔɔn)
• Korean: 생명체 (ko) (saengmyeongche)
• Latin: creatura (la) f, ens (la) n, animatum n, animate n, res (la) f, natura f
• Latvian: būtne, radījums
• Lithuanian: būtybė
• Livonian: lejā
• Macedonian: суштество n (suštestvo)
• Maore Comorian: shiumbe 7 or 8
• Norwegian: vesen
• Polish: stwór (pl) m, istota (pl) f
• Portuguese: ser (pt) m, criatura (pt) f
• Romanian: ființă (ro), creatură (ro), făptură (ro)
• Russian: (живо́е) существо́ n ((živóje) suščestvó), тварь (ru) f (tvarʹ), созда́ние (ru) n (sozdánije), (archaic) творе́ние (ru) n (tvorénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: биће n, створ m, створење n

  Roman: biće (sh) n, stvor (sh) m, stvorenje (sh) n

• Slovak: tvor m, stvorenie n, bytosť
• Slovene: bitje (sl) n, stvor m
• Spanish: ser (es) m, criatura (es) f
• Swedish: varelse (sv) c, väsen (sv)
• Turkish: yaratık (tr)
• Ukrainian: істо́та (uk) f (istóta), створі́ння n (stvorínnja), су́тність f (sútnistʹ), твари́на (uk) f (tvarýna), тварь f (tvarʹ)
• Venetian: èsare
• Vietnamese: sinh vật (vi) (生物 (vi))
• Volapük: (♂♀) jafäb (vo), (♂) hijafäb, (♀) jijafäb
• Zazaki: conawır

the state or fact of existence

• Arabic: كَيْنُونَة‎ f (kaynūna), كَوْن‎ (kawn)
• Armenian: գոյություն (hy) (goyutʿyun)
• Azerbaijani: varlıq (az)
• Bashkir: барлыҡ (barlïq), йәшәйеш (yäšäyeš) (philosophical)
• Belarusian: існава́нне n (isnavánnje), быццё n (byccjó)
• Bulgarian: съществу́ване (bg) n (sǎštestvúvane), битие (bg) n (bitie)
• Catalan: ésser (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 存在 (zh) (cúnzài)

• Czech: existence (cs), život (cs), bytí (cs) n
• Danish: opstå
• Dutch: bestaan (nl) n
• Esperanto: esto (eo)
• Estonian: olemasolu
• Finnish: olemassaolo (fi)
• French: existence (fr), être (fr) m
• German: Sein (de) n, Dasein (de) n
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 f (wists)
• Greek: ύπαρξη (el) f (ýparxi)
• Hebrew: ישות‎ (he) (yeshut)
• Hungarian: lét(ezés) (hu)
• Icelandic: tilvera (is)
• Indonesian: keberadaan (id), ada (id)
• Irish: beith f
• Italian: esistenza (it)
• Japanese: 存在 (ja) (そんざい, sonzai)
• Kazakh: болмыс (bolmıs)
• Korean: 존재(存在) (ko) (jonjae)

• Latin: vita (la) f, ortus m, caput (la) n, salus (la), salus (la) f, natura f, vis (la) f, essentia f
• Latvian: eksistence, esamība (lv)
• Lithuanian: egzistavimas
• Macedonian: битие n (bitie), постоење n (postoenje)
• Manx: beays m
• Maori: kaiaotanga, tauoranga
• Norwegian: tilværelse (no), det å være, bli til
• Persian: وجود‎ (fa) (vojud), بوش‎ (fa) (boweš), هستی‎ (fa) (hasti)
• Polish: istnienie (pl), bycie (pl) n, byt (pl) m
• Portuguese: existência (pt) f
• Romanian: existență (ro), naștere (ro), ființă (ro)
• Russian: существова́ние (ru) n (suščestvovánije), бытие́ (ru) n (bytijé) (philosophical, poetical)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: биће n

  Roman: biće (sh) n

• Slovak: vznik (sk), bytosť f, bytie (sk) n
• Slovene: bivanje n, obstajanje n, bitje (sl) n
• Spanish: existencia (es) f
• Swedish: tillvaro (sv), existens (sv)
• Tagalog: kamagingan
• Turkish: varlık (tr)
• Ukrainian: існува́ння (uk) n (isnuvánnja), буття́ (uk) n (buttjá)
• Volapük: dabin (vo)
• Zazaki: estek
• ǃXóõ: ǃnáã

Conjunction

being

1. Given that; since.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970:

     , New York Review Books 2001, p.280:

     ’Tis a hard matter therefore to confine them, being they are so various and many […].

Synonyms

• as, because, seeing that; see also Thesaurus:because

Derived terms

• being that

Translations

Translations

• Bulgarian: би́дейки (bídejki),
• Macedonian: бидејќи (bidejḱi)

References

• “being”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “being” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "being" in the Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), K Dictionaries limited, 2000-2006.
• "being" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

See also

• am
• are
• is
• art
• be
• been

• beest
• was
• wast
• were
• wert

Anagrams

• Bengi, begin, binge

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Scottish Gaelic

Noun

being f (genitive singular beinge, plural beingean)

1. bench, form