besar

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin bāsiāre.

Verb

besar (first-person singular indicative present beso, past participle besáu)

1. to kiss

Conjugation

Conjugation of besar

infinitive		besar
gerund		besando
past participle		m besáu, f besada, n besao, m pl besaos, f pl besaes
person		first singular yo	second singular tu	third singular él/elli	first plural nosotros/nós	second plural vosotros/vós	third plural ellos
indicative	present	beso	beses	besa	besamos	besáis	besen
	imperfect	besaba	besabes	besaba	besábemos, besábamos	besabeis, besabais	besaben
	preterite	besé	besasti, besesti	besó	besemos	besastis, besestis	besaron
	pluperfect	besare, besara	besares, besaras	besare, besara	besáremos, besáramos	besareis, besarais	besaren, besaran
	future	besaré	besarás	besará	besaremos	besaréis	besarán
	conditional	besaría	besaríes	besaría	besaríemos, besaríamos	besaríeis, besaríais	besaríen
subjunctive	present	bese	beses, besas	bese	besemos	beséis	besen, besan
	imperfect	besare, besara	besares, besaras	besare, besara	besáremos, besáramos	besareis, besarais	besaren, besaran
imperative		—	besa	—	—	besái	—

Related terms

• besu

Betawi

Etymology

Inherited from Malay besar, from Proto-Malayic *bəsar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəsar/
• Rhymes: -ar
• Hyphenation: be‧sar

Adjective

besar (equative sebesar, comparative besaran, excessive kebesaran)

1. big; huge

   Synonym: gedé

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin bāsiāre. Cognate with Occitan baisar, French baiser, Spanish besar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [bəˈza]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [beˈzaɾ]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)
• Homophones: basar, vesar

Verb

besar (first-person singular present beso, first-person singular preterite besí, past participle besat); root stress: (Central) /e/, (informal) /ɛ/; (Valencia) /e/, (informal) /e/; (Balearic) /e/, (informal) /ə/

1. to kiss

   Synonym: petonejar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of besar (first conjugation)

infinitive			besar
gerund			besant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		besat		besada
		plural		besats		besades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	beso	beses	besa	besem	beseu	besen
	imperfect	besava	besaves	besava	besàvem	besàveu	besaven
	future	besaré	besaràs	besarà	besarem	besareu	besaran
	preterite	besí	besares	besà	besàrem	besàreu	besaren
	conditional	besaria	besaries	besaria	besaríem	besaríeu	besarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	besi	besis	besi	besem	beseu	besin
	imperfect	besés	besessis	besés	beséssim	beséssiu	besessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	besa	besi	besem	beseu	besin
	negative (no)	—	no besis	no besi	no besem	no beseu	no besin

References

• “besar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “besar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “besar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “besar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /bəˈsar/ [bəˈsar]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ar
• Syllabification: be‧sar

Etymology 1

Inherited from Malay besar, from Proto-Malayic *bəsar.

Adjective

besar (comparative lebih besar, superlative paling besar or terbesar, equative sebesar)

1. big, large

   Rumah mereka di kelurahan ini besar.

   Their house in this subdistrict is big.

2. big, great

   Pencapaian terbesar kami selama beberapa tahun ini.

   Our greatest achievement in recent years.

3. big, grown up

   Keponakanmu sudah besar ya.

   Your nephew is grown up now, huh?

4. (figurative) big, important

   Synonym: penting

   Dia orang besar di kantor saya.

   He's a important guy in my office.

Noun

bêsar (uncountable)

1. area, large, size

   Synonyms: besaran, ukuran

   Berapa besar ruang segitiga ini?

   How big is this triangular space?

2. magnitude

Derived terms

• berbesar-besar
• besar-besaran
• besaran
• kebesaran
• membesar
• membesar-besar
• membesar-besarkan
• membesarkan
• memperbesar
• pembesar
• pembesaran
• pemerbesar

• besar akal
• besar cakap
• besar gabuk
• besar hati
• besar hidung
• besar jogong
• besar kalang
• besar kecek
• besar kepala
• besar lambung
• besar lengan
• besar mulut
• besar perut

See also

• raya (“great, greater, large”) (of geographic name, holiday, etc.)
• raksasa (“giant”)
• agung (“huge, grand”)
• akbar (“big”) (in islamic context)
• gede (“big”) (colloquial)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Javanese besar.

Noun

bêsar

1. synonym of murbei (“mulberry”)

Derived terms

• bebesaran
• besaran

Further reading

• “besar”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Malay

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayic *bəsar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəsar/
• Rhymes: -ar

• Audio (Malaysia):

  (file)

Adjective

besar (Jawi spelling بسر, comparative lebih besar, superlative paling besar)

1. big, large (of a great size)

   Synonyms: raya, agung (both refer to "greater")

   Antonym: kecil

2. big (adult)

   Antonym: kecil

3. being of the highest ranking in an occupational position; top, head

   guru besar ― headteacher

Noun

besar (Jawi spelling بسر, plural besar-besar or besar²)

1. size, area

   Synonyms: saiz, ukuran

   Besar rumah ni hampir 900 kaki persegi.

   The area of this house is close to 900 square feet.

Derived terms

• besar-besar
• besarkan
• dibesarkan
• kebesaran
• membesar
• membesarkan
• perbesar
• sebesar
• terbesar

Descendants

• > Indonesian: besar (inherited)
• → Buginese: wessa
• → Iban: besai
• → Old Javanese: besar
• → Mandar: bassar
• → Maranao: besar
• → Ngaju: basar

See also

• lebar

Further reading

• "besar" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Maranao

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay besar.

Adjective

besar

1. big (of a great size)

   Antonym: maito'

2. big (adult)

Old Javanese

Etymology

From Malay besar.

Adjective

besar

1. big (of a great size)
2. big (adult)

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish, from Latin bāsiāre (“to kiss”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beˈsaɾ/ [beˈsaɾ]

• Audio (Peru):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: be‧sar

Verb

besar (first-person singular present beso, first-person singular preterite besé, past participle besado)

1. to kiss
2. (reciprocal) to kiss (each other, one another)
3. (reflexive) to make out with, to neck with [with con]

Conjugation

    Conjugation of besar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			besar
gerund			besando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		besado		besada
		plural		besados		besadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	beso	besastú besásvos	besa	besamos	besáis	besan
	imperfect	besaba	besabas	besaba	besábamos	besabais	besaban
	preterite	besé	besaste	besó	besamos	besasteis	besaron
	future	besaré	besarás	besará	besaremos	besaréis	besarán
	conditional	besaría	besarías	besaría	besaríamos	besaríais	besarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	bese	besestú besésvos2	bese	besemos	beséis	besen
	imperfect (ra)	besara	besaras	besara	besáramos	besarais	besaran
	imperfect (se)	besase	besases	besase	besásemos	besaseis	besasen
	future1	besare	besares	besare	besáremos	besareis	besaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		besatú besávos	bese	besemos	besad	besen
	negative		no beses	no bese	no besemos	no beséis	no besen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of besar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive besar	dative	besarme	besarte	besarle, besarse	besarnos	besaros	besarles, besarse
	accusative	besarme	besarte	besarlo, besarla, besarse	besarnos	besaros	besarlos, besarlas, besarse
with gerund besando	dative	besándome	besándote	besándole, besándose	besándonos	besándoos	besándoles, besándose
	accusative	besándome	besándote	besándolo, besándola, besándose	besándonos	besándoos	besándolos, besándolas, besándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative besa	dative	bésame	bésate	bésale	bésanos	not used	bésales
	accusative	bésame	bésate	bésalo, bésala	bésanos	not used	bésalos, bésalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative besá	dative	besame	besate	besale	besanos	not used	besales
	accusative	besame	besate	besalo, besala	besanos	not used	besalos, besalas
with formal second-person singular imperative bese	dative	béseme	not used	bésele, bésese	bésenos	not used	béseles
	accusative	béseme	not used	béselo, bésela, bésese	bésenos	not used	béselos, béselas
with first-person plural imperative besemos	dative	not used	besémoste	besémosle	besémonos	besémoos	besémosles
	accusative	not used	besémoste	besémoslo, besémosla	besémonos	besémoos	besémoslos, besémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative besad	dative	besadme	not used	besadle	besadnos	besaos	besadles
	accusative	besadme	not used	besadlo, besadla	besadnos	besaos	besadlos, besadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative besen	dative	bésenme	not used	bésenle	bésennos	not used	bésenles, bésense
	accusative	bésenme	not used	bésenlo, bésenla	bésennos	not used	bésenlos, bésenlas, bésense

Derived terms

• besamanos
• bésame el culo (“kiss my ass”)
• besapiés
• besar el azote
• besar el suelo
• besar la tierra
• llegar y besar el santo
• manos besa el hombre, que querría ver cortadas

Related terms

• besarse
• beso m

Further reading

• “besar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025