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Bee
Definitions
- 1 A diminutive of the female given name Beatrice.
- 2 A surname.
- 1 A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.
"His face was belymmed as byes had him stounge[…]."
- 2 A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
"geography bee"
- 3 A ring or torque; a bracelet. obsolete
"And kyng Arthur gaf her a ryche bee of gold and soo she departed"
- 4 The name of the Latin script letter B/b.
""The ee-vee-ee-ar-en-oh-ee-ell-blank-bee-ell-oh-ess-ess-oh-em-blank-en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar is especially dee-ee-ell-eye-cee-eye-oh-you-ess." Our friends thanked the spelling bee for his help and then he buzzed off."
- 5 Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through. plural-normally
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 someone connected with Barnet Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
- 7 Initialism of Black Economic Empowerment. South-Africa, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
- 8 any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species wordnet
- 9 Any stinging flying insect, especially a wasp. informal, proscribed
- 10 A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
"The cellar […] was dug by a bee in a single day."
- 11 Alternative letter-case form of bee. alt-of
- 12 a social gathering to carry out some communal task or to hold competitions wordnet
- 1 Obsolete spelling of be. alt-of, obsolete
"held that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’"
- 2 past participle of be; been form-of, obsolete, participle, past
"His Lady sad to see his sore constraint, / Cride out, Now now Sir knight, shew what ye bee / Add faith vnto your force, and be not faint: / Strangle her, els she sure will strangle thee."
Etymology
From Middle English bee, from Old English bēo (“bee”), from Proto-West Germanic *bijā, from Proto-Germanic *bijǭ (“bee”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰey- (“bee”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian bij (“bee”), Dutch bij, by (“bee”), German Biene (“bee”), Limburgish Bé, bie (“bee”), Luxembourgish Bei (“bee”), Vilamovian byn (“bee”), West Flemish bieë (“bee”), Yiddish בין (bin, “bee”), Danish, Swedish bi (“bee”), Faroese býfluga (“bee”), Icelandic bý, býfluga (“bee”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk bie (“bee”).
Possibly from dialectal bene, been, bean (“help given by neighbours”), from Middle English been, bene (“neighbourly help, prayer, petition, request, extra service given by a tenant to his lord”), from Old English bēn (“prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōni, from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“prayer, request, supplication”). Thus a variant of obsolete ben (“prayer; petition”) and doublet of boon. Cognate with Danish bøn (“prayer”), Dutch ban (“curse”), German Bann (“ban”). More at ban.
From Middle English bie, from Old English bēah, bēag, from Proto-West Germanic *baug, from Proto-Germanic *baugaz. Doublet of beag, a learned borrowing; and of bagel.
Variant spellings.
From Middle English [Term?], from Old English be, from Latin be (the name of the letter B).
Probably from Old English bēah (“ring”). Compare bow.
See also for "bee"
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