better

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛtə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛtɚ/, [ˈbɛɾɚ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈbetə(ɹ)/, [ˈbeɾə(ɹ)]
• Rhymes: -ɛtə(r)
• Hyphenation: bet‧ter

Etymology 1

From Middle English better, bettre, betre, from Old English betera (“better”), from Proto-Germanic *batizô (“better”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhAd- (“good”). Cognate with Sanskrit भद्र (bhadrá, “blessed, fortunate, happy, good”). For Germanic cognates: see Proto-Germanic *batizô. Verb is from Middle English beteren, from Old English beterian (“to make better, improve”). Related to best. Compare also Icelandic batna (“to improve”), Icelandic bót (“improvement”). More at batten, boot.

Adjective

better

1. comparative form of good: more good
   • 2002 November 1, “Shindig”, Firefly episode 4:

     Badger: You think you're better than other people.
     Mal: Just the ones I'm better than.

2. comparative form of well: more well

Derived terms

Terms derived from better (adjective)

better dead than red better half better off

betterness get better

Related terms

• best
• better than nothing
• better the devil you know

Translations

comparative of the adjectives good or well

• Alviri-Vidari:

  Vidari: ودرتر (vaderter)

• Arabic: أفضل ('áfDal), أحسن ('áHsan)
• Basque: hobe
• Breton: gwell (br), gwelloc'h (br)
• Bulgarian: по-добър (po-dobǎr)
• Catalan: millor (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 比較好的, 比较好的 (bǐjiào hǎo-de), 更好 (zh) (gèng hǎo), 較好的, 较好的 (jiào hǎo-de)

• Czech: lepší (cs)
• Danish: bedre
• Dutch: beter (nl)
• Faroese: betri
• Finnish: parempi (fi)
• French: meilleur (fr)
• Friulian: miôr
• Galician: mellor
• German: besser (de)
• Greek: καλύτερος (el) m (kalýteros) (kalýteros)
• Hindi: बेहतर (behtar)
• Hungarian: jobb (hu)
• Icelandic: betri (is)
• Ido: plu bona (io), maxim (io)
• Interlingua: melior
• Irish: níos fearr
• Italian: migliore (it)
• Japanese: もっといい (motto ii), より良い (yoriyoi)
• Jèrriais: miyeu
• Korean: 더 좋은 (deo joheun)

• Latin: melior
• Lojban: xauzma
• Macedonian: подобар (pódobar)
• Malay: lebih baik, lebih bagus
• Neapolitan: meglio
• Norwegian: bedre (no)
• Occitan: melhor (oc)
• Persian: بِهتَر (fa) (behtar), بختر (bextar) (dialectal)
• Polish: lepszy (pl) m
• Portuguese: melhor (pt)
• Romanian: mai bun, mai bine
• Romansch: meglier
• Russian: лучше (ru) (lúčše)
• Scottish Gaelic: feàrr
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бо̏ље̄

  Roman: bȍljē, bolji m

• Slovak: lepší
• Slovene: bóljši
• Spanish: mejor (es)
• Swahili: bora (sw)
• Swedish: bättre (sv)
• Turkish: daha iyi
• Urdu: بہتر (behtar)
• Venetian: mejo
• Vietnamese: tốt hơn, khá hơn; khoẻ hơn (comparative form of well, as in "healthier")
• Volapük: gudikum
• Welsh: gwell (cy)
• Yiddish: בעסער (beser)

Adverb

better

1. comparative form of well: more well
   • 1901, Louis Couperus, Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (translator), Small Souls,

     “I’ve had enough of cycling with you chaps. I can spend my Sundays better than in tormenting cats and quarrelling and fighting.”

2. More, in reference to value, distance, time, etc.

   ten miles and better

Derived terms

• had better
• 'd better

Related terms

• best

Translations

comparative form of the adverb well

• Bulgarian: по-добре (po-dobre)
• Danish: bedre
• Dutch: beter (nl)
• French: mieux (fr)
• Hindi: (behtar)
• Icelandic: betur (is)
• Interlingua: melio
• Italian: meglio (it)
• Norwegian: bedre (no)

• Polish: lepiej (pl)
• Portuguese: melhor (pt)
• Romanian: mai bine
• Russian: лучше (ru) (lúčše)
• Slovene: bólje, bóljše
• Spanish: mejor (es), mejores (es) pl
• Swahili: bora (sw)
• Swedish: bättre (sv)
• Volapük: gudikumo

Verb

better (third-person singular simple present betters, present participle bettering, simple past and past participle bettered)

1. (transitive) To improve.
   • Wordsworth

     Love betters what is best.

   • Thackeray

     He thought to better his circumstances.

   • Macaulay

     the constant effort of every man to better himself

2. (intransitive) To become better; to improve.

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

3. (transitive) To surpass in excellence; to exceed; to excel.
   • Hooker

     The works of nature do always aim at that which can not be bettered.

4. (transitive) To give advantage to; to support; to advance the interest of.
   • Milton

     Weapons more violent, when next we meet, / May serve to better us and worse our foes.

5. (slang) Had better.

   You better do that if you know what's good for you.

Derived terms

• betterer
• betterment

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:improve

Translations

to improve

• Bulgarian: подобрявам (bg) (podobrjavam)
• Norwegian: forbedre (no)
• Persian: بهبودن, بهبودی (fa)
• Polish: poprawiać / poprawić, polepszać / polepszyć
• Romanian: îmbunătăți (ro)

• Spanish: mejorar (es)
• Swahili: bora (sw)
• Swedish: förbättra (sv)
• Volapük: gudükumön (vo)
• Welsh: gwella (cy)

Noun

better (plural betters)

1. An entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior.

   He quickly found Ali his better in the ring.

   • Hooker

     Their betters would hardly be found.

Derived terms

• get the better of

Etymology 2

Alternate pronunciation of bettor or modern formation from the verb to bet.

Noun

better (plural betters)

1. Alternative spelling of bettor.

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: going · knew · seen · #207: better · name · among · done

---

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ['bɛtər]

Adjective

better

1. comparative form of guid

Derived terms

Derived terms

better-faured (“better-featured, better-looking”) bettermaist (“better-class”) betterment (“improvement”)

betterness (“recovery”) the better o that (“the better for that”)

Adverb

better (comparative mair better, superlative maist better)

1. better
2. quite recovered from illness
3. more than

Noun

better (uncountable)

1. that which is better, something better or superior

Verb

tae better (third-person singular simple present betters, present participle betterin, simple past bettert, past participle bettert)

1. to better, improve

---

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian betera, from Proto-Germanic *batizô. Compare English better, Low German beter, Dutch beter, German besser, Danish bedre.

Adjective

better

1. better