being

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

Verb

being

1. Present participle of be.

Noun

being (plural beings)

1. A living creature.
2. The state or fact of existence, consciousness, or life, or something in such a state.
   • Shakespeare

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

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.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wright to this entry?)

   • Steele

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

Derived terms

• beingdom
• beingful
• beinghood
• beingless
• beingness
• (noun) human being

Translations

a living being

• Arabic: كائِن (ar) m (kāʾin), مَخْلوق (ar) m (maxlūq)
• Armenian: էակ (hy) (ēak)
• Belarusian: істота f (istóta), стварэнне n (stvarénnje)
• Bulgarian: същество (bg) n (sǎštestvó), създание (bg) n (sǎzdánie), твар (bg) f (tvar)
• Catalan: ésser (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 生物 (zh) (shēngwù)

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

• Korean: 생명체 (ko) (saengmyeongche)
• Latin: creatura f, ens (la) n, animatum n, animate n, res (la) f, natura f
• Latvian: būtne, radījums (lv)
• Lithuanian: būtybė
• Macedonian: суштество n (súštestvo)
• Norwegian: vesen
• Polish: stwór (pl) m, istota (pl) f
• Portuguese: ser (pt) m, criatura (pt) f
• Romanian: ființă (ro), creatură (ro), făptură (ro)
• Russian: (живое) существо (ru) n (suščestvó), тварь (ru) f (tvarʹ), создание (ru) n (sozdánije), (archaic) творение (ru) n (tvorénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: биће n, створ m, створење n

  Roman: biće n, stvor m, stvorenje n

• Slovak: tvor m, stvorenie n
• Slovene: bitje (sl) n, stvor m
• Spanish: ser (es) m, criatura (es) f
• Swedish: varelse (sv) c, väsen (sv)
• Turkish: yaratık (tr)
• Ukrainian: істота (uk) f (istóta), тварь f (tvarʹ), тварина (uk) f (tvarýna), створіння n (stvórinnja)
• Venetian: èsare
• Vietnamese: sinh vật (vi) (生物 (vi))
• Volapük: (♂♀) jafäb (vo), (♂) hijafäb, (♀) jijafäb

the state or fact of existence

• Arabic: وُجود (ar) m (wujūd)
• Armenian: գոյություն (goyutʿyun)
• Bashkir: барлыҡ (barlïq), йәшәйеш (yäšäyeš) (philosophical)
• Belarusian: існаванне n (isnavánnje), быццё n (byccjó)
• Bulgarian: съществуване n (sǎštestvúvane), битие (bg) n (bitie)
• Catalan: ésser (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 存在 (zh) (cúnzài)

• Czech: existence (cs), život (cs), bytí n
• Danish: opstå
• Dutch: bestaan (nl) n
• Esperanto: esto
• Estonian: olemasolu
• Finnish: olemassaolo
• French: existence (fr)
• German: Sein (de) n, Dasein (de) n,
• Greek: ύπαρξη (el) f (ýparxi)
• Hebrew: ישות (he) (yeshut)
• Hungarian: lét(ezés) (hu)
• Icelandic: tilvera (is)
• Indonesian: keberadaan (id), ada (id)
• Italian: esistenza (it)
• Japanese: 存在 (ja) (そんざい, sonzai)
• Korean: 존재 (ko) (jonjae) (存在 (ko))
• Latin: vita (la) f, ortus m, caput (la) n, salus (la), salus (la) f, natura f, vis (la) f, essentia f

• Latvian: eksistence, esamība
• Lithuanian: egzistavimas
• Macedonian: битие n (bítie), постоење n (postoenje)
• Manx: beays m
• Norwegian: tilværelse, det å være, bli til
• Persian: وجود (fa) (vojud)
• Polish: istnienie (pl), bycie (pl) n
• Portuguese: existência (pt) f
• Romanian: existență (ro), naștere (ro), ființă (ro)
• Russian: существование (ru) n (suščestvovánije), бытие (ru) n (bytijé) (philosophical, poetical)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: биће n

  Roman: biće n

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

Conjunction

being

1. (obsolete) Given that; since.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York Review Books 2001, p. 280:

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

Derived terms

• being that

References

• “being” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
• “being” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "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

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: make · def · might · #113: being · day · through · himself

Anagrams

• begin
• binge