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Added 9 October 2026

be

/ˈbiː/ noun

In Latin: sum Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about be at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element.

verb

Have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun).
John is rich
Be identical to; be someone or something.
The president of the company is John Smith
Occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere.
Where is my umbrella?

Origin

From Middle English been (“to be”). See below for more. Further etymology of be and its conjugated forms The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English. * The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēon (“to be, become”), from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, come to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”), from the root *bʰuH-. In particular: ** Now-dialectal use of been as an infinitive of be is either from Middle English been (“to be”) or an extension of the past participle.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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