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Added 8 October 2026

bite

/baɪt/ noun

In Latin: mordeō, morsico Wiktionary

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

A wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person.
A small amount of solid food; a mouthful.
all they had left was a bit of bread
A painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin.

verb

To grip, cut off, or tear with or as if with the teeth or jaws.
Gunny invariably tried to bite her
Cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort.
The sun burned his face
Penetrate or cut, as with a knife.
The fork bit into the surface

Origin

From Middle English biten, from Old English bītan (“bite”), from Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną (“bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“split”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian biete (“bite”), West Frisian bite (“bite”), Dutch bijten (“bite”), German Low German bieten (“bite”), German beißen, beissen (“bite”), Danish bide (“bite”), Swedish bita (“bite”), Norwegian Bokmål bite (“bite”), Norwegian Nynorsk bita (“bite”), Faroese and Icelandic bíta (“bite”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (beitan, “bite”), Latin findō (“split”), Ancient Greek φείδομαι (pheídomai), Sanskrit भिद् (bhid, “break”).

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

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