bes

Clipping of English Besme.

bes

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Besme.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Besme terms

Inherited from Middle English bes.

• IPA^(key): /biːz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːz
• Homophone: bees

bes

1. (now chiefly dialectal) third-person singular simple present indicative of be
   • 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:

     She bes there these five yare, an' has sint hoome foor her broother an' sister, the mooney for their passage, an' they bes goone these thra yares.

   • 1916, The Windsor Magazine - Volume 44, page 353:

     "An' he bes free times as old as herself," he wailed, " an' ugly as a squid ! But he bes rich — rich as any marchant — an' for the bread an' the fixin's an' the gold she bes takin' 'im."

   • 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:

     And she bes white. Now, I bes what they use to call a house nigra. I don't work in no fields. And you know, I likes my color. Sho' not real fair, and not real dark either. I bes just who I be.

2. (dialectal, nonstandard) Present tense inflected form of be: am or are.
   • 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:

     She bes there these five yare, an' has sint hoome foor her broother an' sister, the mooney for their passage, an' they bes goone these thra yares.

   • 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:

     And she bes white. Now, I bes what they use to call a house nigra. I don't work in no fields. And you know, I likes my color. Sho' not real fair, and not real dark either. I bes just who I be.

Into the Early Modern English period, be was still sometimes inflected like regular verbs in the ordinary present indicative (i.e. "they be", in addition to "they are"), although "he bes" was uncommon (compare "he beeth").^[1] Today, such inflected forms are limited to the alternate, dynamic / lexical conjugation of be described in its Usage notes.

• is

Borrowed from Latin bes.

bes (plural besses)

1. (historical, numismatics) A bronze coin of the Roman Republic, worth two thirds of an as.

bes

1. plural of be (“Cyrillic letter”)

bes

1. Alternative form of beth (“Semitic letter”).

• BSE, EBs, ESB, EbS, SEB, SbE, Seb

bes

1. Verbal stem occurring in the following root, aspect, and mode combinations:

Aspect	Imperfective	Perfective	Future	Optative
Repetitive	bets (broad)	bets (broad)	bets (broad)	bets (broad)
Semelfactive	bets (broad)	bets (broad)	bets (broad)	bets (broad)
Perambulative	bets (broad)		bets (broad)
cus	bets (broad)	bets (broad)	bets (broad)	bets (broad)

• besu

Inherited from Latin vissiō. Compare Romanian băși.

bes (participle bishitã)

1. to fart

• bishinedz

• bishiri / bishire
• bishit
• bishinã

bes (Balinese script ᬩᭂᬲ᭄)

1. too (as in too hard, too much etc.)

   bes joh ― too far (away).

• “bes”, in Balinese–Indonesian Dictionary [Kamus Bahasa Bali–Indonesia] (in Balinese), Denpasar, Indonesia: The Linguistic Center of Bali Province [Balai Bahasa Provinsi Bali].

• bäs, bees, bääs, bejs, beas

From Middle High German bœse, bōse, from Old High German bōsi, from Proto-West Germanic *bausī, from Proto-Germanic *bausuz (“inflated, puffed up, arrogant, bad”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bew- (“to blow, inflate, swell”). Cogate with German böse.

• (Northern) IPA^(key): /ˈb̥ɛi̯s/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ˈb̥ɛːs/
• (Southern) IPA^(key): /ˈb̥ɛɐ̯s/

bes

1. evil, malicious, wicked
2. bad, naughty

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

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

bes

1. plural of be (“the letter B”)

Inherited from Latin basium, from Proto-Indo-European *bu. Compare Occitan bais, Spanish beso, Italian bacio.

bes m (plural besos)

1. kiss

   Synonyms: petó, besada

• besar

Inherited from Latin versus. Doublet of vers.

bes m (plural bessos)

1. (nautical) strip of cloth used as part of a sail or a flag

• “bes”, 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
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “bes”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

From Proto-Athabaskan *weˑš

bes

1. knife

• bys

From Proto-Brythonic *bɨd, from Proto-Celtic *bitus.

• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [beːz]

bes m (plural besow)

1. (Revived Late Cornish) world

• IPA^(key): /bɛs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bes
• Rhymes: -ɛs

From Middle Dutch bes, bese, from Old Dutch besi, from Proto-West Germanic *basi, from Proto-Germanic *basją. Compare English berry, Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍃𐌹 (weinabasi, “grape”).

bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n or (dialectal) bessie n)

1. berry

   Synonyms: (dated or regional) bei, (dated or regional) bees, (dated or regional) bezie

• Afrikaans: bessie (from the diminutive)
• → Papiamentu: bèshi (from the diminutive)
• → Jersey Dutch: bääśe (from the diminutive)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n)

1. (music) B-flat

• → Indonesian: bes

Backformation from besje, from older bestje, from bestemoer or bestemoeder (“grandma, old woman”).

• best

bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n)

1. (chiefly diminutive) an old woman
   • a. 1525, anonymous author, “Lied van de twee koningskinderen”, in Haerlems Oudt Liedt-boeck, 27th edition, published 1716:

     Met een quam daer een besje,
     Een oude fenynde bes,

     But then there came an old woman,
     An old mean hag,

bes

1. superlative degree of gud: best
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, 2 Timoti 4:9:

     Du yu bes an mikies kom si mi.

     Do your best and make haste to come see me

• IPA^(key): /ˈbəs/ [ˈbɨs]
  • Rhymes: -əs
• (parts of Bauko, Sabangan and Tadian) IPA^(key): /ˈbəh/ [ˈbɨh]
  • Rhymes: -əh
• Syllabification: bes

bës

1. act of looking the clothes of a dead person

• Morice Vanoverbergh (1933), “bes”, in A Dictionary of Lepanto Igorot or Kankanay. As it is spoken at Bauco (Linguistische Anthropos-Bibliothek; XII)‎^[1], Mödling bei Wien, St. Gabriel, Österreich: Verlag der Internationalen Zeitschrift „Anthropos“, →OCLC, page 83

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bъzъ.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛs/
• Rhymes: -ɛs
• Syllabification: bes

bes m inan

1. elder (Sambucus)

• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “bez”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[2]
• “bes”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

From a derivative of *duō (“two”) (compare bis) + as.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛs]

(Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this pronunciation?) (particularly: Gaffiot, Félix (1934) say it is bēs with long vowel.)

bes m (genitive bessis); third declension

1. two-thirds, or a two-thirds part of any unit
2. bes, a coin worth two-thirds of an as

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

• bessālis

• “bes”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʲɛs/

bès

1. third-person singular/plural future of besti

From English base.

bes (Jawi spelling بيس, plural bes-bes or bes²)

1. (chemistry) base, any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds, having bitter taste, that turn red litmus blue, and react with acids to form salts.

• basa (Indonesian)

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

A version of bith with the third-person singular ending replaced with -es as in other verbs (in some dialects) and the vowel of the infinitive been leveled in.

bes

1. alternative form of bith

bes

1. passive form of be

• bas

• IPA^(key): /bʲes/

bes

1. third-person singular present subjunctive relative of is

From Portuguese vez and Spanish vez and Kabuverdianu vés.

bes

1. times as in "three times is too much"
2. occasion, instance

• (Greater Poland):
  • (Kuyavia) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛs]
  • (Southern Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛs]
• (Masovia):
  • (Far Masovian) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛs]
• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Western Kraków) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛs]
  • (Goral):
    • (Żywiec) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛs]

bes m inan

1. (Kuyavia, Southern Greater Poland, Miejska Górka, Far Masovian, Ciechanów, Western Kraków, Kraków, Bochnia, Wadowice, Żywiec) alternative form of bez

The genitive singular in the Kuyavia dialect, Southern Greater Poland dialect, Far Masovian dialect, and Western Kraków dialect is besu.

• Jan Karłowicz (1900), “bez”, in Słownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 1: A do E, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 67

• bijȇs (Ijekavian)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *běsъ (“evil spirit”).

• IPA^(key): /bêːs/

bȇs m inan (Cyrillic spelling бе̑с) (Ekavian)

1. rage
2. fury
3. madness
4. mania
5. tantrum
6. wildness
7. ferocity
8. rampage

• IPA^(key): /ˈbes/ [ˈbes]
• Rhymes: -es
• Syllabification: bes
• Homophones: ves, (Latin America) vez

bes m (plural beses)

1. bes (two-thirds of an as (Roman measurement), around 219.3 grams)

bes f pl

1. plural of be

• “bes”, 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

bes

1. passive infinitive of be
2. present passive of be

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbes/ [ˈbɛs]
• Rhymes: -es
• Syllabification: bes

Clipping from English best friend.

bes (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜐ᜔) (colloquial, women's speech, gay slang)

1. endearing term of address for one's friend, especially a close friend or bestfriend: friend; best friend

• The word is typically used by women, and may sound effeminate when used by men.

Borrowed from Spanish vez, from Latin vicis (“change, alternation”). Doublet of beses.

bes (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜐ᜔) (dialectal, Cavite)

1. time; instance; repetition

   Synonyms: ulit, beses

Western Yugur cardinal numbers

<  4	5	6  >
Cardinal : bes     Ordinal : besənc̨ə

Cyrillic		бес

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *bẹ̄ĺ.

• IPA^(key): /bes/, /bis/, /peʂ/

bes

1. five

• Roos, Marti (2000), The Western Yugur (Yellow Uyghur) Language. Grammar, Texts, Vocabulary, Leiden: University of Leiden, pages 335-336