bi-
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
PIE word |
---|
*dwóh₁ |
From Latin bis (“twice”) or Latin bīnus (“double”), from duis (“twice”), from duo (“two”), from proposed Proto-Indo-European *duwo or *dwóh₁ (“two”).
Alternative forms[edit]
- bin- (before some vowel-initial roots)
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
Previous: | uni- |
---|---|
Next: | tri- |
bi-
Usage notes[edit]
In an old, common method used to indicate the presence of an acidic hydrogen, sodium hydrogen sulfate is called "sodium bisulfate" and sodium hydrogen carbonate is called "sodium bicarbonate". This method is not recommended by IUPAC and does not denote a “doubling up” of a specific group, which is reserved for the Greek prefix di-, as in carbon dioxide (“CO2”).
The prefix bi in the older system comes from the observation that there is two times as much carbonate (CO3) in sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and other bicarbonates as in sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and other carbonates.
As a prefix for periods, bi- is ambiguously used to mean either “once every two periods” or “twice every period”; this is particularly acute for biweekly, bimonthly, and biannual. To avoid ambiguity, semi- or twice can be used to unambiguously mean “every half period” (thus twice every period) or “twice every period”, but there is no general way to refer unambiguously to “once every two periods”. In some cases a separate word is unambiguous, as in fortnightly (“every two weeks”), or biennial (“every two years”), but there is no word that unambiguously refers to “every two months”. Due to the ambiguity, some prefer to use explicit phrases, like “every two months” or “twice a month”.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
- bi
- biannual
- biautomaton
- biceps
- bichrome
- bicolor
- bicolour
- biconvex
- bicornuate
- bicycle
- bicyclic
- bicylindrical
- bidentate
- bidirectional
- biennial
- bifacial
- bifocals
- bijugate
- bilabial
- bilabiate
- bilanguage
- bilateral
- bilinear
- bilingual
- billion
- bilobate
- bilogarithmic
- bilogarithmical
- bimanual
- bimester
- bimetal
- bimonthly
- binary
- binomial
- biped
- biplane
- bipod
- bipolar
- birefringent
- bireme
- birotate
- biscuit
- bisect
- bisection
- bisector
- biserrate
- bisexual
- bisexuality
- bitartrate
- bivalve
- biweekly
Translations[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Azerbaijani[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
- (rarely productive) -less, un-, in-.
- Synonym: -siz
Derived terms[edit]
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “bi-” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “bi-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2022
- “bi-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
Czech[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Related terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- bi- in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
Danish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Etymology 2[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
See also[edit]
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
Galician[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “bi-” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.
German[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (file)
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
Gothic[edit]
Romanization[edit]
bi-
- Romanization of 𐌱𐌹-
Ido[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
Indonesian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Dutch bi-, from Latin bi-.
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “bi-” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.
Irish[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
- Alternative form of bith-, used before a slender T.
Mutation[edit]
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
bi- | bhi- | mbi- |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Further reading[edit]
- "bit-" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
Italian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
Latin[edit]
Etymology[edit]
A clipped form of bis (“twice”), which drops its final s when in compositions, from duis (“twice”), from duo (“two”), from proposed Proto-Indo-European *duwo or *dwóh₁ (“two”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- bi- in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “bi-” on page 231/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Usage notes[edit]
This prefix often corresponds to an English possessive ’s appended to the preceding word. For example, Diné bizaad means literally “the People their-language”, equivalent to “the People’s language” (i.e., Navajo language).
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
Northern Kurdish[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
- forms the affirmative subjunctive mood of verbs.
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- “bi-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- “bi-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Ojibwe[edit]
Preverb[edit]
bi-
- this way, here, hither (toward the speaker)
- Bi-anokiin.
- Come and work.
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- The Ojibwe People's Dictionary https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/bi-pv-dir
Old English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From bī (“by, near, around”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bī-
Usage notes[edit]
- Occurred primarily in nouns.
Derived terms[edit]
- bīgenga (“inhabitant; observer; benefactor”)
- bīleofa (“support, sustenance, nourishment, capital”)
- bīswæc (“treachery”)
Descendants[edit]
Old Saxon[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
An unstressed form of bī, from Proto-West Germanic *bī-.
Prefix[edit]
bi-
- A productive prefix usually used to form verbs and adjectives, especially verbs with the sense “around, throughout” or makes transitive verbs from intransitive verbs, adjectives and nouns.
- bi- + brekan → bibrekan (“to break”)
- bi- + brengian → bibrengian (“to accomplish”)
- bi- + dēlian → bidēlian (“to deprive”)
- bi- + delvan → bidelvan (“to bury”)
- bi- + dempian → bidempian (“to suffocate”)
- bi- + dernian → bidernian (“to conceal, to hide”)
- bi- + dōdian → bidōdian (“to kill”)
- bi- + driogan → bidriogan (“to deceive”)
- bi- + drōragon → bidrōragon (“to bleed to death”)
- bi- + dumbilian → bidumbilian (“to make a fool”)
- bi- + *dwellian → bidwellian (“to hinder”)
- bi- + fāhan → bifāhan (“to embrace, seize”)
- bi- + fallan → bifallan (“to befall”)
- bi- + felhan → bifelhan (“to recommend, give over, confide”)
- bi- + fellian → bifellian (“to throw down”)
- bi- + findan → bifindan (“to notice, find out”)
- bi- + gangan → bigān, bigangan (“to celebrate”)
- bi- + gehan → bigehan (“to dare, confess”)
Descendants[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
From bī (“by, near, around”).
Prefix[edit]
bī-
Derived terms[edit]
- bīgengio (“inhabitant”)
Polish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- bi- in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- bi- in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
- bi- (two-)
Derived terms[edit]
Spanish[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “bi-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Prefix[edit]
bi-
- by-, next to, near, by the side, aside; same as English by- and German bei-; see also the rare preposition bi
- bi-, two, dual; from Latin bis (“twice”)
Derived terms[edit]
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *dwóh₁
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English prefixes
- en:Chemistry
- English disputed terms
- en:Two
- Azerbaijani terms borrowed from Persian
- Azerbaijani terms derived from Persian
- Azerbaijani terms with IPA pronunciation
- Azerbaijani lemmas
- Azerbaijani prefixes
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan prefixes
- Czech terms derived from Latin
- Czech terms with IPA pronunciation
- Czech lemmas
- Czech prefixes
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish terms derived from German
- Danish lemmas
- Danish prefixes
- Danish terms derived from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French prefixes
- fr:Two
- Galician terms derived from Latin
- Galician lemmas
- Galician prefixes
- German terms derived from Latin
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German prefixes
- Gothic non-lemma forms
- Gothic romanizations
- Ido lemmas
- Ido prefixes
- Indonesian terms borrowed from Dutch
- Indonesian terms derived from Dutch
- Indonesian terms derived from Latin
- Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Indonesian lemmas
- Indonesian prefixes
- Irish lemmas
- Irish prefixes
- Italian terms derived from Latin
- Italian 1-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Italian lemmas
- Italian prefixes
- Latin clippings
- Latin 1-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin terms with Ecclesiastical IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin prefixes
- Navajo lemmas
- Navajo prefixes
- Navajo pronouns
- Northern Kurdish lemmas
- Northern Kurdish prefixes
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål prefixes
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk prefixes
- Ojibwe lemmas
- Ojibwe preverbs
- Ojibwe directional preverbs
- Ojibwe terms with usage examples
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English lemmas
- Old English prefixes
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old Saxon lemmas
- Old Saxon prefixes
- Polish terms derived from Latin
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/i
- Rhymes:Polish/i/1 syllable
- Polish lemmas
- Polish prefixes
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese prefixes
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish prefixes
- Swedish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish prefixes