bi

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bi"

§English

§Etymology 1

From bisexual.

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: bye, buy, by

§Adjective

bi (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Bisexual.

   I'm hetero, but my oldest sister is bi.

§Translations

bisexual

• Finnish: bi (fi), bisse (fi)
• French: bi (fr) m, f
• German: bi (de)
• Italian: bisex

• Japanese: バイ (ja) (bai)
• Portuguese: gilete (pt) m
• Swedish: bi (sv)

§See also

• bi-

§Etymology 2

Mandarin 璧 (bì)

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: bye, buy, by

§Noun

bi (plural bi)

1. A type of jade disk produced in ancient China.

§See also

• Bi (jade) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Bi (jade)

---

§Amuzgo

§Adjective

bi

1. green

---

§Basque

Basque cardinal numbers

1	2	3
Cardinal : bi     Ordinal : bigarren

§Numeral

bi

1. two

---

§Danish

Wikipedia ^daWikipedia ^da

§Etymology

From Old Norse bý, from Proto-Germanic *bijō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰī-.

§Noun

bi c (singular definite bien, plural indefinite bier)

1. bee

§Inflection

Inflection of bi

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bi	bien	bier	bierne
genitive	bis	biens	biers	biernes

§See also

• hveps c

§Verb

bi

1. imperative of bie

---

§Dutch

§Etymology

From biseksueel.

§Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

§Adjective

bi (invariable, comparative meer bi, superlative meest bi)

1. (colloquial) bisexual

---

§French

§Etymology

From bissexuel, or possibly directly from English bi

§Noun

bi m, f (plural bis)

1. bi, bisexual person

§Adjective

bi m, f (invariable)

1. bi, bisexual

§External links

• “bi” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

---

§Gothic

§Romanization

bi

1. Romanization of 𐌱𐌹

---

§Isthmus Zapotec

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbì]

§Noun

bi

1. wind

---

§Japanese

§Romanization

bi

1. rōmaji reading of び
2. rōmaji reading of ビ

---

§Kurdish

§Preposition

bi

1. by

---

§Lojban

Lojban cardinal numbers

ze	bi	so
Cardinal : bi     Ordinal : bimai     Adverbial : biroi     Distributive : bimei     Quantified : bimoi     Higher-Order Ordinal : bimo'o

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/

§Cmavo

bi (rafsi biv)

1. (cardinal) eight

   le bi gerku

   the eight dogs

---

§Low German

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biː/

§Etymology

From Old Saxon bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

§Preposition

bi

1. at, with

   Bi us is dat ümmer Feest.

   With us it's always a party.

2. by

   Wi wahnt in en Huus bi de Meer.

   I live in a house by the lake.

3. around, about (often in combination with üm)

   Dat weer üm bi so'n twintig Johr vör.

   It was about twenty years ago.

§Inflection

Pronominal adverbs of bi

preposition	bi
postpositional adv.	bi
+ her (hither)	—
+ düt (this)	hierbi
+ dat (that)	dorbi
+ wat (what)	wobi
+ wat (something)	enerwegens bi
+ nix (nothing)	nargens bi
+ allens (everything)	överall bi

§Adverb

bi

1. alongside, with
2. in order to adjust or improve

---

§Mandarin

§Romanization

bi

1. Nonstandard spelling of bī.
2. Nonstandard spelling of bí.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bǐ.
4. Nonstandard spelling of bì.

§Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

---

§Middle Dutch

§Etymology

From Old Dutch bi, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biː/

§Preposition

bi

1. by, near, around
2. beside, alongside
3. at, with
4. among
5. during

§Adverb

bi

1. by, near, around

§Descendants

• Dutch: bij

---

§Middle English

§Etymology

From Old English bi, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

§Preposition

bi

1. by
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41

     And I seide, “Ser, in his tyme maister Ioon Wiclef was holden of ful many men the grettis clerk that thei knewen lyuynge vpon erthe. And therwith he was named, as I gesse worthili, a passing reuli man and an innocent in al his lyuynge. And herfore grete men of kunnynge and other also drowen myche to him, and comownede ofte with him. And thei sauouriden so his loore that thei wroten it bisili and enforsiden hem to rulen hem theraftir… Maister Ion Aston taughte and wroot acordingli and ful bisili, where and whanne and to whom he myghte, and he vsid it himsilf, I gesse, right perfyghtli vnto his lyues eende. Also Filip of Repintoun whilis he was a chanoun of Leycetre, Nycol Herforde, dane Geffrey of Pikeringe, monke of Biland and a maistir dyuynyte, and Ioon Purueye, and manye other whiche weren holden rightwise men and prudent, taughten and wroten bisili this forseide lore of Wiclef, and conformeden hem therto. And with alle these men I was ofte homli and I comownede with hem long tyme and fele, and so bifore alle othir men I chees wilfulli to be enformed bi hem and of hem, and speciali of Wiclef himsilf, as of the moost vertuous and goodlich wise man that I herde of owhere either knew. And herfore of Wicleef speciali and of these men I toke the lore whiche I haue taughte and purpose to lyue aftir, if God wole, to my lyues ende.”

§Descendants

• English: by

---

§Mirandese

§Verb

bi

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ber; "I saw"
   • 2011 CE, Ana Afonso, L Princepico Chapter 1

     Quando you tenie seis anhos, bi ua beça ua eimaige mi guapa nun lhibro subre la floresta birge que se chamaba "Stórias Bibidas".

     • 1948 translation by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

       Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest.

---

§Old Dutch

§Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi.

§Preposition

bī

1. by, near
2. at, with

§Descendants

• Middle Dutch: bi
  • Dutch: bij

---

§Old English

§Alternative forms

• be

§Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, by, around, about”), from Proto-Germanic *umbi (“around”), from Proto-Indo-European *ambʰi (“around”). Akin to Old High German bī (“near, by”) (German bei), Dutch bij, Gothic 𐌱𐌹 (bi). Non Germanic cognates include Albanian mbi (“on, about”), Ancient Greek αμφί (amphí, “on, around”).

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biː/

§Preposition

bī

1. by, near, around, to, in, at, about, with
2. beside

§Descendants

• Middle English: bi
  • English: by

---

§Old High German

§Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi, whence also Old English bi.

§Preposition

bī

1. by
2. at

§Descendants

• German: bei
• Yiddish: בײַ (bay)

---

§Old Saxon

§Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bi, whence also Old English bi.

§Preposition

bī

1. by, near, to
2. beside

§Descendants

• Low German: bi, by

---

§Portuguese

§Adjective

bi (plural bi, comparable)

1. bisexual (sexually attracted to persons of either sex)

§Synonyms

• bissexual

§Noun

bi m f (plural bis)

1. bisexual (bisexual person)

§Synonyms

• bissexual

---

§Scottish Gaelic

§Etymology

Probably from Proto-Celtic, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeih₃w- (“to live”). Compare Welsh byw, Breton beva.

§Verb

bi (past bha, future bidh, verbal noun bhith)

1. be

§Inflection

Infinitive	a bhith
Imperative	bi
Present participle	a' bhith
Past participle	air a bhith

	Present tense	Past tense	Future tense	Conditional
Basic form	tha	bha	bidh/bithidh	bhithinn/bhiodh/bhiomaid
Dependent form	bheil	robh	bi	bithinn/biodh/biomaid
Impersonal form	thathar	bhathar	bithear	bhiteadh

§See also

• is

§Related terms

• beò

---

§Swedish

§Etymology 1

From Old Norse bý, from Proto-Germanic *bijō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰī-.

§Noun

bi n

1. bee

§Declension

Declension of bi

	singular		plural
Neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bi	biet	bin	bina
genitive	bis	biets	bins	binas

§Usage notes

• More rare spellings of the defenite forms are bit/bits (singular) and bien/biens (plural). However, the spellings in the inflection box are the most common.

§See also

• bålgeting c
• geting c

§Etymology 2

§Adjective

bi

1. (informal) bisexual

§Etymology 3

§Adverb

bi (not comparable)

1. (in some fixed expressions) by

§Related terms

• stå någon bi

---

§Vietnamese

§Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA ^(key): /ˀɓi˧˧/
• (Huế) IPA ^(key): /ˀɓɪj˧˧/
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA ^(key): /ˀɓɪj˧˥/

§Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese, from 悲 (“sad, tragic”)

§Adjective

bi

1. tragic

§Etymology 2

From French bille.

§Noun

bi

1. (slang) ball sack
2. marble (spherical glass ball)

§Derived terms

• bút bi (ball-point pen)

---

§Volapük

§Conjunction

bi

1. because